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Prep time
10 minutes
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Cook time
1 hour 15 minutes
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Serves
3-4
Author Notes
This is a summery pizza with squash blossoms, herby tomato sauce, zucchini ribbons, fresh burrata, and garlic scape lemon butter, topped with chili flakes, honey & lemon zest.
Squash blossoms are perfect for when you're planting a garden but you can't just wait around all summer for your zucchini to grow. They're delicate, colorful and super versatile. We usually end up stuffing them with ricotta and frying them up, but opted for a simpler approach here to let them shine a little on their own, since they were so fresh. If you're buying your squash blossoms (which you can do! Look for them at the farmers' market) just make sure that you're ready to use them right away, because they will wilt and lose their vibrant color extremely quickly. If they do wilt a bit, no worries, just try the frying technique instead.
The other seasonal staple we used here was garlic scapes. They can be a bit intense when raw, but chopped and sautéed into a butter sauce, they add the perfect rich kick to the mild burrata. We also made a classic pizza sauce—a rarity for Pizza Tuesdays, but it felt right for this pizza.
*If you can't find garlic scapes, you can substitute green garlic (use about 1/3 cup chopped) or a combination of garlic and scallions.
**Note: You can make the sauce up to a couple days in advance if you like, to save some time. If you do, ignore the step about preheating your oven towards the end of cook time, and just do that when you're ready to make your pizza. This recipe will make more tomato sauce than you need. Feel free to cut ingredients in half, or save the rest for pasta or more pizza. Or, if you're not feeling like making your own pizza sauce, in the words of Ina Garten: "store bought is fine."
Find this recipe and more here: www.pizzatuesdays.com —pizzatuesdays
Ingredients
- For the tomato sauce
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28 ounces
can whole peeled tomatoes, lightly crushed
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2 teaspoons
fresh oregano, chopped
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1 teaspoon
fresh basil, chopped
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3
cloves garlic, chopped
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1 pinch
sugar
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1 pinch
chili flakes
- For the pizza
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1
ball of pizza dough
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olive oil
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salt & pepper
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flour for dusting
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semolina flour for pizza stone
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1
ball of burrata
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1
small zucchini, peeled into ribbons
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1/2
lemon, juiced
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1 dash
lemon zest
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2-3
garlic scapes, chopped
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2 tablespoons
butter
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1 handful
squash blossoms
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1 pinch
chili flakes
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drizzle of honey
Directions
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Start with the tomato sauce*. Heat some olive oil in a saucepan over medium, and add the garlic. Cook, stirring occasionally, for a couple minutes, then add the tomatoes, sugar, chili flakes, and salt & pepper to taste. Bring to a boil and then reduce the heat to a simmer. You can let it simmer for anywhere from 30 to 90 minutes, depending on how much time you have, knowing the flavor will just get richer the longer you cook it. We let it go for about an hour. When you're nearing the end of your cooking time, preheat your oven to 550° F, or as hot as it will go (with the pizza stone inside), and add the herbs to your sauce, letting them hang out for the last few minutes or so.
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When you're ready, turn off the heat and either puree with an immersion blender or add it to a blender and blend until fairly smooth. Set aside (in the fridge if making ahead) until ready to use.
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For the garlic butter sauce, heat a medium pan over high heat and melt the butter. Add the garlic scapes and some salt & pepper and cook for a couple minutes, stirring often, until it is bright green and right on the edge of browning. Stir in the lemon juice and turn off the heat, pouring into a heat-proof bowl until ready to use.
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When your oven is hot, you can prepare your dough. Start stretching it from the center, then move it around in a circle so that gravity stretches it and creates a natural crust. It helps to put some olive oil on your hands first. Place the dough on your floured surface & push it out with your fingertips until it's the size of your pizza stone. You can fold over the edges to create an extra fluffy crust. Take the pizza stone out of the oven, sprinkle it with some semolina flour and place your dough on it. Bake it for about a minute, or until it starts to bubble, then take it out. This last step isn't 100% necessary, but I feel like it adds a little extra crispiness to the crust.
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Next, brush your dough lightly with olive oil. Spoon out an even layer of tomato sauce (not too thick or it'll get soupy when combined with the burrata), followed by the garlic scapes, and pop it in the oven.
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Bake for a few minutes, then pull it back out and arrange your zucchini ribbons and squash blossoms on the pizza, sprinkling with a bit of salt. Now let it bake until the crust has reach a nice golden brown. Take it out, then cut your burrata into a few pieces and dollop it on top, followed by a drizzle of honey, some chili flakes and some lemon zest. Now slice it up and enjoy!
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