When the rain is back with some nasty wind, all you want is to please let you stay at home and comfort yourself with some pizza and in my case – Russian-style girl-talk : ) I was looking for a quick pizza dough recipe to get the dinner ready on time, so I chose this ‘healthier’ recipe from my favourite King Arthur Flour website. It contains whole wheat flour, which I tend to add in most cases anyway, but also flaxmeal and even flax seeds! I just HAD to try it : ) Moreover I just bought those tiny crunchy zucchini, probably the last this season. So here’s my quick pizza fix for stormy days and loyal friends!

By the way, here is how I usually freeze pizza if I find that the dough recipe will make more than can be eaten the same day:

Arrange the topping on the dough base and place the pizza on baking paper and then on a hard cardboard sheet or a cutting board, depending on how much space you have in the freezer. Don’t forget to cover the pizza (the best way is to place it in a large plastic bag) and put in the freezer. On the day of baking DO NOT THAW, just bake the pizza at about 225 ‘C first on the lower rack and then move it to the top. The baking time might be longer than for a freshly made pizza.

Here’s a closer view of the crust:

And here’s my zucchini topping:

A year ago – On Soviet Children’s Books and More

Two years ago – Pita, Sourdough Pizza and Stewed Aubergines

Zucchini Pizza with Flax Seed Crust (crust adapted from www.kingarthurflour.com) will make a flavourful cheesy pizza with crunchy onion bites and soft puffy base. For the crust recipe ingredients and procedure, follow the link.

Changes to the original crust recipe: I used smashed flax seeds instead of whole and had to add more all purpose flour. As for the procedure, I did not pre-bake the crust which made the recipe even quicker and easier.

Topping Ingredients for 2 pizzas:

• 2 thin zucchinis, sliced (look out for the most crunchy ones!)
• onion sliced in rings
• a small tin of tomato paste
• soy sauce
• olive oil
• dried oregano
• fresh dill and spring onions
• seasonings, garlic powder
• grated cheese

Procedure:

You may choose to pre-bake the crust as the original recipe suggests but I did not. I arranged the topping ingredients in the following order:

First comes a very thin coat of olive oil. It will be mostly needed at the edges of the base where there’s no topping.

Then there’s the tomato paste made into ketchup-like consistency with the help of soy sauce and some pre-mixed seasonings, garlic powder, chopped fresh dill and spring onions. Spread it on the base. My tomato paste layer is usually perfectly uneven : )

Then arrange the zucchini circles covering all the base. Top them with onion rings. Season with something spicy – the zucchini are usually quite bland.

Sprinkle generously with coarsely grated cheese, the remaining chopped fresh dill and spring onions plus some dried oregano.

Bake at 225 ‘C first on the lower oven rack for about 10 minutes and then on the center or top rack for additional 10 minutes until the cheese crust is browned. You will know by this very special unmistakable pizza aroma : ) Serve with some fresh veggies.

Remarks: I made two pizzas – a deep-dish round one which I baked on the day of making the dough in a greased 26 cm pan (reheated the remaining slices the next day just fine!) and a thin-crusted rectangular one which survived one day freezing alright. Be careful with the salt as the base contains already quite enough to make the overall taste a bit over-salty.

Result: The seeds and the use of whole wheat flour add a certain crunch to the pizza base. I assure you that you wouldn’t even guess there are flax seeds in the crust because of the topping and all the cheese, but the main point is that they ARE there, right? This pizza turned out to be extra-flavourful!

More pizza ideas: Zucchini and Aubergine Whole Wheat Pizza and Sourdough Pizza and also this quick leftover sourdough pizza.

G.