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basil sauce squash blossom pizza

  • Author: Jennifer McDaniel
  • Prep Time: 90
  • Cook Time: 20
  • Total Time: 1 hour 50 minutes
  • Yield: 1 pizza, 10 slices 1x

Description

Before we hop into this squash blossom pizza recipe, we thought it might be helpful to provide a quick primer on squash blossoms!

What are squash blossoms?

Squash blossoms are the edible flowers of summer and winter squash. They bloom in colors orange and yellow and are sometimes called zucchini flowers. They are very delicate and taste mildly like the squash itself. Late spring and early fall is when they are available to harvest for your squash blossom pizza.

Picking and Storing Squash Blossoms

Each squash plant has two kinds of blossoms, male and female. The male plants bloom to fertilize the female plants, but never produce any fruit. Male plants grow on long stalks and are slender, whereas female plants grow closer to the center of the plant and have a bulbous end. If you intend to harvest squash, choose more male blossoms for your squash blossom pizza. Blossoms are delicate and should be cooked and eaten as soon as possible. But they can be stored in the refrigerator for a day or so.

Preparing Squash Blossoms for Your Squash Blossom Pizza 

To prepare squash blossoms, first gently open the petals and check for bugs. Next gently snap off any pistil or stamen. Next wash and dry the blossoms. They are be eaten raw in salads, sautéed, and fried or used as a beautiful topping for this squash blossom pizza.


Ingredients

Scale

Whole-Wheat Pizza Crust (makes 2, 12-inch pizza crusts)

  • 1 1/2 cups warm water
  • 1 package active dry yeast
  • 2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 1/2 tsp. salt
  • 1 cup whole-wheat flour
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour

Basil Sauce

  • 3 garlic cloves
  • 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 cups basil leaves
  • 1/2 tsp. salt
  • 1/2 tsp. black pepper
  • 1 tsp. honey

Pizza Toppings

  • 10 squash blossoms
  • 9 slices, pre-sliced fresh mozzarella

Instructions

Pizza Dough 

  1. Pour ½ cup water into mixing bowl, stir in yeast, and set aside for 10 minutes until foamy.
  2. Add remaining water, olive oil, and salt, and beat in whole-wheat flour plus white flour to form dough.
  3. Turn onto counter and knead until smooth.
  4. Put dough into an oiled bowl and turn once to coat it. Cover with a towel and let rise until double the size, about 40-60 minutes.
  5. Turn dough onto counter and divide into number of pizzas wanted. Shape each piece into a ball and set on lightly floured counter, cover with a towel, and let rise for another 20 to 30 minutes.
  6. To flatten the dough, take a ball and flatten into a disk. Starting from the middle, push dough out until ¼ inch thick. Dust a pan with semolina, fine cornmeal, or flour, and set dough on top and cover for another 10-15 minutes before adding toppings.

Basil Puree 

  1. Using a blender add the garlic and olive oil and blend. Then add basil by handfuls, followed by salt and blend again until smooth.

Pizza Assembly

  1. After dough has risen, add basil puree on top, then add washed and dried squash blossoms plus mozzarella.

Nutrition

  • Serving Size: One pizza
  • Calories: 203
  • Sugar: 1 g
  • Sodium: 380.1 mg
  • Fat: 11.4 g
  • Carbohydrates: 19.8 g
  • Protein: 6.6 g
  • Cholesterol: 9.1 mg