Zucchini flower pizza...

Just out of the oven - ready to eat, straight off the hot stone.

Finished pizza, ready to be placed onto the hot stone and cooked in the oven.

Female zucchini flowers, sliced in half with a little of the baby zucchini trimmed and left attached [or you could cut them off, grate them and place on the pizza].

A recent trip to the market meant we had a bunch of zucchini flowers in the fridge, and as I just happened to have some left over fresh yeast we decided that zucchini flower pizza was the perfect choice for a lazy Sunday night dinner.

Of course, you can adapt this recipe and add any combination of topping and cheese that you like. My favourites include: mushrooms, kalamata olives, spinach, zucchini flowers, potato, blue cheese, fresh buffalo mozzarella and artichokes. There are an infinite number of choices really, so use your imagination!

Most often I make 'pizza bianche' [white base pizza] which, as the name suggests, means that tomato sauce is not used on the base. For fans of the tomatoey pizza, it's much better than you may think. Instead of sauce I rub olive oil over the base. My favourite white base pizza is fungi porcini with asiago cheese. The absence of the tomato sauce means the star ingredients really get to be the feature. Give it a try.

Pizza dough: makes 2 large pizzas [from 'Two Greedy Italians' by Antonio Carluccio & Gennaro Contaldi]

500g strong plain flour [plus extra for dusting]
10g salt
10g fresh yeast
325ml lukewarm water
semolina

1. Place your terracotta tile or pizza stone into the cold oven and preheat the oven to 250 C.

2. Put flour and salt in a large bowl - make a well.

3. Crumble the yeast into a small bowl/cup and add a little of the lukewarm water. Stir until dissolved and mix dissolved yeast into the remaining lukewarm water.

4. Pour the yeast and water into the flour and stir, using a fork, gradually incorporating the flour until you have a dough [add a little more flour if you find the dough seems too sticky].

5. Shape the dough into a ball and leave to rest on the bench, covered with a damp cloth, for 5 minutes.

6. Knead the dough for 8 - 10 minutes, until it has a smooth, velvety soft texture.

7. Cut the dough in half with a sharp knife. Knead each piece for a couple of minutes and shape into balls.

8. Cover with a damp tea towel and leave in a warm place to rise, for 30 minutes [now is a good time to prepare the toppings, if you haven't done so already].

Note: Using a pizza stone or tile [I use an unglazed terracotta floor tile] helps to cook the dough and the porous surface creates a crispier crust.


To form the dough:

1. Sprinkle a little flour onto a clean work bench and press the dough out, using your finger tips, into a circular shape. Gently pulling and stretching, once the dough is flattened out, is ok as well.

I also like to pick up the dough and turn it around during this stage and let gravity do some of the work. I also like to rest the dough over the back of my knuckles and move the dough around in a circular motion, letting it drape and stretch a little. Takes a little practice but it does the job and there's less chance of the dough tearing.

2. The finished dough should be as thin as a pancake, with a slightly thicker border.

3. Sprinkle a large wooden board, one with a handle if possible, generously with semolina.

4. Transfer the dough onto the board.

5. Place on the toppings - remember, too much topping will make your pizza soggy [see below]. I like to do this quickly so the dough doesn't stick to the board.

6. Take hot tile/pizza stone out of oven [I usually place it on top of the cook top].

7. Lift front of the dough and slightly lift and slide your fingers underneath around edge of pizza to loosen from the board.

8. Hold wooden board, on an angle, over the hot tile/stone and give it a sharp shake [or two] toward the stone. All going well the semolina should roll the dough straight off the board and onto the stone.

9. Place into the oven and cook for 7 minutes [or 9 minutes if you want a crispier base]

10. Remove from oven, drizzle with olive oil and eat!


Topping:

neopolitana sauce or tinned plum tomatoes, crushed
extra virgin olive oil
parmesan, freshly grated
mozzarella, sliced thickly/roughly chopped
basil leaves or dried oregano [optional]
zucchini flowers [cleaned and sliced in half lengthways]

1. Spread a small amount of the sauce or crushed tomatoes evenly over the base - not too much or the pizza will be soggy.

2. Drizzle with olive oil.

3. Sprinkle with Parmesan, basil leaves or oregano and grated zucchini, if using.

4. Place on pieces of mozzarella and zucchini flowers.