Pause your current activity. It’s time for today’s dinner, which is undeniably the best kind – consisting of only five ingredients, including those for the pizza dough. This recipe is seasonal, making it perfect for utilizing your CSA surplus. It disregards all other meal plans, serving as a welcomed disruption, and that’s what I love most about it. I believe that a dish should compel you to eat it, at least for a moment, above all else. It should be the only thing you crave, and nothing else will suffice.
I had a plan as well, which involved using these summer squash along with pesto, burrata, and possibly some beans or farro. However, I hadn’t quite figured it out yet. During a visit to Sullivan Street Bakery last week to buy a sourdough pullman for blueberry bread and butter pudding, I ended up purchasing six items not on my list. This tends to happen at exceptional bakeries, as I was fully aware. The mushroom pizza was funky and delicious, the cauliflower pizza was speckled with heat, and the potato pizza matched perfectly with one other. I was proud of myself until I realized that it was the same recipe, but that was okay. The pomodoro pizza was only enjoyed by me, either because I appreciate simple things that need no adornment (my theory) or because I’m a bore (others’). However, the zucchini pizza with heaps and valleys of deer bed-like shreds was something else entirely. I was compelled to investigate further.
I had anticipated a gourmet dish loaded with ingredients, such as sharp cheese, garlic, anchovies, oregano, and other hard-to-acquire items. However, after doing a Google search, I found out that Jim Lahey’s topping consists of three simple ingredients: shredded zucchini, shredded gruyere, and breadcrumbs, which, paired with pizza dough (flour and yeast), only amounts to a total of five ingredients. This easy dinner solution can be made with a mix of summer squash or just zucchini and can be adapted to be eaten on toasts or as a zucchini-melt. Other ingredients, such as black olive paste or an egg, can be added if desired, but it’s unnecessary to create a pizza that won’t utilize all the excess zucchini.
formerly
A year ago: Sesame Noodles with Cucumber, Takeout-Style
Two years ago: Crumb Cake with Blueberries
Three years ago: Crepes with Charred Corn
Four years ago: Bars with Pink Lemonade
Five years ago: Popovers with Corn, Buttermilk and Chives.
Sweet and Smoky Oven Spare Ribs were made six years ago.
Cantaloupe Salsa and Plum Kuchen were made seven years ago.
Huevos Rancheros and Blueberry Crumb Bars were made eight years ago.
Nectarine and Blackberry Galette were made nine years ago.
And from the opposite end of the globe:
Six Months Ago: Vanilla Bean Wafer Banana Puddings and Taco Torte
1.5 Years Ago: Grilled Cauliflower Quesadillas
2.5 Years Ago: Blood Orange and Fennel Salad
3.5 years ago: Egg Salad featuring Pickled Celery and Course Dijon Mustard
4.5 years ago: Pull-Apart Bread made with Cheddar Cheese, Beer, and Mustard
Pizza with Summer Squash
Yields: 1 half-sheet or 2 quart-sheet pizzas, serving 4 to 8 people.
Based on a recipe by Jim Lahey from Sullivan Street Bakery, this is what you’ll need:
– 1 tablespoon of olive oil, plus extra for your fingertips.
– 1 pizza dough recipe (see below) or use around 2/3 of your preferred pizza dough recipe.
– 2 1/2 pounds (approximately 5 small-medium or 3 large) of zucchini or other types of summer squash, trimmed.
– 1 1/2 teaspoons of fine sea salt.
– 2 cups (equivalent to 8 ounces) of coarsely grated gruyere cheese.
– 2 to 3 tablespoons of plain breadcrumbs.
Lazy Fitted-to-Your-Schedule Pizza Dough Recipe:
– 3 3/4 cups of flour (plus extra for your work surface)
– 1 teaspoon of salt
– 1/4 teaspoon of active dry yeast
– 1 1/3 cups of room temperature water.
Preheat the oven to 500°F and position the rack in the center. Brush a 13×18-inch rimmed half-sheet pan or 2 9×13-inch quarter-sheet pans with olive oil. Divide the dough into two equal parts and use oiled fingertips to stretch, pull, nudge, and press the dough across the bottom of the pan. The dough may be thin and imperfect, so be sure to strive for evenness. If any holes appear, simply pinch them together.
Grate the zucchini using a food processor with a grater attachment or the large holes of a box grater. In a big bowl, mix the zucchini and salt. Keep it aside for twenty to thirty minutes (if possible) until the zucchini becomes soft and releases water. Put the zucchini in a colander and extract as much water as possible by squeezing it with your hands. Press it a few times. In the same bowl (make sure it’s dry), mix the cheese shreds with the zucchini, breaking up any zucchini clumps. Taste the mixture; it should be seasoned enough from the salt, but you can add more with ground pepper or pepper flakes, if needed.
Evenly distribute the zucchini mixture onto the dough(s), ensuring it reaches all the edges of the pan and is slightly thicker at the edges for better browning. Carelessly sprinkle breadcrumbs on top.
Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until the topping turns a golden brown. Remove from the oven, slice into squares, and enjoy!
Jim Lahey’s Simple Pizza Dough Recipe
This recipe has been modified and halved
Ingredients:
– 2 cups minus 1 tablespoon (250 grams) of all-purpose or bread flour
– 1 1/4 teaspoons (5 grams) of instant or active dry yeast
– A levelled 1/4 teaspoon of fine sea or table salt
150 grams (2/3 cup) of water at room temperature.
Combine the flour, yeast, and salt in a medium-sized bowl. Add the water and mix well using a wooden spoon or your hand for around 30 seconds. Cover the bowl and let the dough rest at room temperature for approximately 2 hours, or until it has increased to over double its original size. Follow the remaining instructions as specified.
