Piled High Zucchini and Cheese Topped Pizza
Foolproof pizza dough piled high with a zucchini and tangy cheese mixture and baked to golden perfection? It should be a summer staple!
Can we talk about my newest, favorite recipe? I kind of owe you a rockstar recipe after all your support this week, and this is definitely it.
Pizza. And not just any pizza. Pizza piled with tender, shredded zucchini and cheese and baked until golden.
Cheesy zucchini pizza. It’s amazing.
I’ve made it three times in the last couple of weeks, and I think the recipe is pretty darn easy, even for a weeknight, especially if you opt to use my beloved Quick and Easy Foolproof Pizza Dough and get started draining the zucchini before you start the pizza dough.
Multi-task! It’s fun (and sanity-saving).
Mostly, I’m just so thrilled to have another zucchini recipe to love.
I happen to be hanging on with desperation to the last vestiges of zucchini season (and yes, summer, too).
Maybe it’s because I only have one zucchini plant, but even nearing the end of the growing season, I’m still ecstatic when I go to look under the mighty, leafy wonder and spy a zucchini.
Our beloved plant is so ridiculously ginormous that even after all five kids + myself have looked into it’s murky depths, we’ve been known to leave a zucchini behind, only to find it a few days later because it’s morphed into the size of my 4-year old.
Speaking of gardening, I think I’ve mentioned my humble square foot garden plan before; it’s my first time using this method and coincidentally, it’s my first time having a really successful garden.
I think it’s because it’s small and manageable and kind of pretty.
I have four 4X8-foot garden boxes and I can’t believe how prolific the vegetables have been this year! I’ve always claimed I hate gardening, but I’ve been proven wrong this year.
I have butternut squash growing on vines and basil coming out of my ears and cherry tomatoes, enough to feed a small army (or in other words, me, since I eat those things like candy).
Of course, it helps that there are no weeds (yet) and that it’s compact enough so I don’t have to traipse across three rivers and through a forest of vegetables to get a harvest.
Either way, I’m already planning next year’s garden, and I think I’ve officially become one of those garden nerds. Even worse (or better?): a square foot gardening nerd.
I guess what I’m trying to say is, if you have zucchini from your garden or even the grocery store to use up, this piled high zucchini topped pizza should be next on your list. (And if you don’t, come find me, I have a lot to share.)
This cheesy zucchini pizza is unique and delicious and a new zucchini favorite, for sure. Plus, I love how it’s fairly adaptable – I mean, use whatever cheese you prefer and see how it turns out! I don’t think you have to be held to fussy, rigid requirements.
Experiment a little. Do what feels right. Use up the cheese in your cheese drawer. Be happy.
As a sidenote, since squeezing water out of zucchini ranks right up there with my least favorite things to do in the history of ever, it’s worth noting that my preferred method (if I have to do the dang job anyway) is using a nut milk bag or a potato ricer. It almost makes it bearable.
And for this recipe, you really want to get every last bit of water out of the zucchini for the best possible result.
Because, ew, say no to soggy pizza. I’m here for you if you need to unload and vent about the whole wringing out the zucchini job. We can get through this.
Piled High Zucchini and Cheese Topped Pizza
Ingredients
- 1 recipe [Quick and Easy Foolproof Pizza Dough]
- 2 to 2 ½ pounds zucchini (about 7 to 8 cups shredded zucchini)
- 1 to 1 ½ teaspoons coarse kosher salt (see note)
- 2 cups (227 g) freshly grated cheese (see note)
- ¼ to ½ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Place a baking stone or an overturned baking sheet on a center rack in the oven. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.
- Lightly grease a large, rimmed baking sheet (about 12X18-inches) with nonstick cooking spray or line with parchment paper and then lightly grease the parchment paper.
- Grate the zucchini on the large holes of a box grater or with a food processor and place in a colander set over the sink or a large bowl.
- Sprinkle the salt over the zucchini and toss. Let the zucchini sit for 20-30 minutes (or upwards of a couple hours); it will wilt slightly and give off quite a bit of liquid.
- In batches, using a thin kitchen towel, potato ricer, nut milk bag (my preferred way) or other method (even your hands can work, although I find I can’t get it quite dry enough), wring the zucchini of excess water until it is very, very dry and clumps together. You’ll probably end up with 4 cups or so after wringing out (don’t stress if it’s more or less than this as long as the zucchini is dry).
- Place the zucchini in a bowl, breaking up the clumps with your fingers. Add the shredded cheese (except for the Parmesan) and toss to combine.
- Press the dough onto the prepared pan, forming a rectangle of dough that more or less fills the pan. It doesn’t have to be exact or even overly pretty. Just do your best. Try to get it to an even thickness so there aren’t super thin and super thick parts.
- Spread the zucchini and cheese mixture evenly on top of the pizza, leaving a thin border around the edges. Sprinkle with the Parmesan cheese.
- Bake the pizza in the pan on top of the preheated baking stone or overturned baking sheet for 20-25 minutes until the pizza dough is golden and the topping is bubbly and lightly golden on top. For a crispier topping, preheat the broiler and broil for just a few minutes until the zucchini topping sizzles, if desired.
- Remove from oven, sprinkle with a bit of salt and pepper, if desired, and serve warm.
Notes
Recommended Products
Recipe Source: cheesy zucchini pizza adapted from Deb at Smitten Kitchen by way of Jim Lahey after Liz, a loyal reader and frequent commenter, emailed me and told me I must make this (used my quick and easy pizza dough for a thicker crust, lowered the heat b/c 500 degrees created too much burnage for my precious pizzas, and made a few other minor changes and suggestions)
This is THE best. And my kids request it weekly. I love how easy it is and how forgiving it is. This is SO good.
I love this pizza, a great use for zucchini. I add a thin-ish layer of pesto for the “sauce” of the pizza, add the zuccini and cheese as directed, then for toppings, I add diced red pepper and chopped bacon. I have hubby help with squeezing out the zucchini, to make sure to really dry it out. Third time tonight making this, and I’m getting hungry just thinking about it!
I hate when people recreate others recipes but this needs some garlic.
Just made this today! It turned out great. I used part whole wheat flour and white flour. I also added some leftover meatballs cut up from our dinner the night before. Thank you for the instructions about getting out the water from the zucchini. I was going to make zucchini bread and then I saw this recipe. Very fun! and great tasting. My husband like the crust.
This is AH-MAZ-ING!!!! Our garden gave us TONS of zucchini and we let them grow pretty big! This was PERFECT for all those zukes! I added 1 tsp garlic powder to the dough. ALSO here is a trick for juicing zukes… use a German Spaetzle Noodle Maker… I happen to have an old one. IT makes getting out all that liquid a BREEZE- no more dreading the zucchini recipes that make you “wring it out” ugh!
Looks awesome! If you were to make this the night before, would you assemble and bake the next day, or just make the whole thing and reheat the next day? Thanks!
I think the zucchini might make the crust soggy if assembled overnight so I’d probably bake and then reheat
A delicious change of pace from our typical “red sauce” pizza…I was low on zucchini (hard to believe but true!) so used what I had (two normal sized ones) following the directions to salt, drain, squeeze etc and then sauteed some onions, red, yellow and green bell peppers and mixed those in with the rest of the ingredients. …thank you for a great recipe, Mel!
Modified this today for lunch- half sourdough crust, spread olive oil and garlic powder on the crust (even better with REAL garlic- too lazy today). Mixed summer (yellow) squash with the shredded zucchini and added…. CRUMBLED BACON!!! Made two pizzas- one on a flat stone, the other in a deep dish stone.
We ate every bite. I think my kids stuffed themselves silly trying to eat this stuff up (despite saying it tasted “too vegetable-y”). Probably helps that we serve honey to eat the crust- reminiscent of Beau Jo’s mountain pies (pizza w/ large, braided crusts) in Idaho Springs, CO.
Hint- if your zucchini is still a little on the watery side, try spreading a light sprinkle of your cheese on the crust, first, add the zucchini and then the Parmesan cheese.
Loved your comment, Aimee! Sounds SO yummy!
I didn’t get this post in my email FYI. I’m always sad when that happens!
I’ve made this 3 times since it was posted on SK. I love it! The last time was my favorite. I used half Gruyere and half Pecorino, and I added crushed red pepper flakes and slivered jarred sweet & hot peppers from TJ’s. It was SO good. I agree the zucchini wringing is a pain but it’s worth it! (In my experience if you have the time to leave it to drain longer then you don’t have to wring as much.)
That’s odd, Anna – if you continue to have issues getting the email updates, will you let me know?
I’m a major lover of this website but I can’t say I really loved this. Maybe I oversalted or used a less-than-awesome combo of cheese. Just a warning!
I love that you shredded the zucchini instead of trying to just pile whole chunks on the pizza. How do you think it would go with half zucchini and half squash?
I think it would be fabulous!
Hi there I made my donation yesterday. Is anyone else having problems recieving the ebook? I paid using PayPal.
sorry my husband figure it out for me Thanks for making the ebook Mel!
Glad you got it to work, Mary!
I made the smitten kitchen version at a family catch up recently as my pizza contribution, and my carnivore loving siblings and partners were extremely dubious about it, but everyone ended up loving it! It’s amazing the difference piles of grated zucchini makes compared to small amounts of sliced (which is what I’ve used before). I didn’t drain mine and it was fine but will try draining it to compare next time!
Oh yay! Another zucchini recipe! We were gone for most of June, so we planted our garden the beginning of July… so our FIVE (yikes!) zucchini plants are just coming on this week! Not sure what my teenage boys will think of zucchini pizza… but we’ll give it a try!!
I think it would be too soggy.
It’s actually not soggy at all – the key is to wring the guts out of the zucchini and then you’ll be good.
There is always room for more zucchini! Looks delicious!
Since you love zucchini you should try this recipe I saw on Pinterest. We did last week and we have made it twice since! It is fantastic!
http://insidebrucrewlife.com/2016/07/zucchini-banana-cake/
Thanks for the recommendation, Marne!
I made the smitten kitchen version of this recipe a few weeks ago, and you are right — it’s incredibly delicious! I will try your crust next time, as I found the one included with her recipe difficult to handle.
Hee !!! I saw the post title and thought: “Oh good and I bet Mel has made it even better!” – and you did.
Perfect head notes, also. Glad you tried and liked it. I have some zucchini salted and sitting for my Friday night pizza and will be brave and try the gruyere-cheddar (xtra sharp) mix this time.
Let me know how you like it, Liz! I love the original recipe on Smitten Kitchen – but I always have to mess with things. That’s kind of my nature. 🙂
“I always have to mess with things” … me, too 🙂
So, I DID do 1/2 gruyere/ 1/2 extra sharp cheddar. Also, I did 1/2 parm and 1/2 bread crumbs on top … SK had bread crumbs vs parm and I did think the bread crumbs were great. This was the best variation yet – for me.
Crust – I use my own “stored” high moisture dough – more like the SM/Lahey dough than your dough, but I use 1/2 white, 1/2 white whole wheat plus some stone cut oatmeal in my dough. I wet my hands with warm water and spread the very moist dough that way (for those who had trouble with SK dough). I bake on a cast iron “stone” at the 500 but check on things about 15 min and remove when crust and top is brown.
Oh, I did try some mushrooms … not good … make texture mushy and flavor just didn’t make it.
I was thinking to try some sweet onion…
Mel, if you ever have time to post in more detail about your square foot gardening, I’d love to hear about it! I have not had the same success…would love to one day have butternut squash coming out my ears!
I would also love to learn more about your square foot gardening, Mel. I have used the method but with no success. I’m mostly interested in what you did for soil.
Yes! Do you do raisedbeds? Or just right on tthe ground?
We did raised beds. I’ll try to get a post together on how we did it this year. We still have a lot to learn but it’s been fun!
I’ll try to get a post up with more details, Maria. We are still learning but it’s worked pretty well this year. We didn’t do the official mix from the square foot gardening book because it would have cost us an arm and a leg so we got compost from a local company and mixed in peat moss and vermiculite.
I want to see a picture of your garden!
I made this a few weeks ago when it first showed up on Deb’s site. Not having Gruyere I used swiss cheese as a substitute. The results were good but would have been better with a Gruyere as in the original recipe. It needed salt and a few red pepper flakes on top took it over the edge. My son needed a dip in some red sauce to make it feel more like pizza but still loved it. Used up most of my zucchini. My plants have stopped producing for the year so waiting for everyone else’s piles to appear on my doorstep before making again.
Hi Kim, I also made it after seeing the recipe on Smitten Kitchen. The gruyere was really awesome, but someone had also recommended adding sauteed onions and garlic as well as garlic salt/powder to the zucchini mix. I made three pizzas and didn’t necessarily carefully measure the zucchini, and the ones where the zucchini topping was generous were definitely the best, especially since the topping will “shrink” a bit upon baking. I thought the results were awesome! I’ll definite be making this often when the temps and humidity drop enough to turn on the oven again! Highly recommend!