Farmers Market Pizza

Thursdays from March to November are Farmers Market days.  I love Thursdays.  This past Thursday, I made out like a bandit at my local Farmers Market.  Summertime brings a bounty of fresh veggies to the market and my cook's creativity gets moving.

I came up with this take on a margherita pizza using only ingredients from my farmers market - with the exception of the pizza dough, oregano, and the Italian cheese blend.  I somehow managed to sweet talk the guy at the corner pizza shop into selling me some pizza dough.  If you don't have a generous corner pizza shop, use a pre-made crust or dough from your grocery store's deli section.  If you're using raw dough, I would recomend baking it for 4-5 minutes before adding your toppings.  This pizza doesn't need to cook long and you'll want to make sure your dough isn't....well, doughy.

We served this pizza with a fresh salad (also from the market) and Syd's Sweet Squash (see post).

Farmer's Market Pizza


Ingredients
1 pizza crust
2 medium tomatoes
1 small zucchini
1 small onion
1 cloves of garlic
8-10 good sized basil leaves
1 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 ball fresh mozzarella
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella or shredded Italian cheese blend

Directions
1. Very thinly slice the zucchini and onion, you'll only need half of each.  Saute them in a pan with a 2 tsp of olive oil until just barely softened (mushy zucchini is gross). Transfer to paper towels to drain and cool. 
2. In a food processor (or mini chopper like I have), combine 1/2 of one tomato roughly chopped (take the skins off if you can but it's not necessary), the garlic, oregano, salt, pepper, and 2 leaves of the basil.  Blend until almost a puree. 
3.  Build your pizza.  Add a very thin layer of the tomato mixture, just so it barely covers the crust.  Sprinkle the Italian cheese, again so it barely but evenly covers. Layer on the zucchini, onion, and thinly sliced tomato.  Top with slices of fresh mozzarella.
4. Bake the pizza 5 minutes. Remove from oven and arrange basil leaves on top.  Cook again for 2 minutes.  Remove from the oven and allow to cool for a few minutes before serving.

Serving
This hearty pizza will taste fresh but filling.  A slice or two with a nice green salad will make a delicious summer meal.