Garden Pizza

 A delicious veggie & cheese pizza

 fresh from my garden

 (eggplant, squash, pepper, tomatoes)

                                                     

(sorry, but ingredient amounts are not exact because I make it differently every time...depends on what I have on hand and individual tastes)

generous layers of veggies, herbs,and cheese

Cut your veggies into bite sized pieces:
2 - 3 thin Italian eggplants
1 -2 summer squash, cut in half and seeded by scraping a spoon down the middle of each half.
1 bell pepper (I like red or orange)
1/2 small to medium onion, cut a little bigger than diced.
3/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
small tomatoes (I grew Juliet hybrid and Cherry Red this year)
1 fresh or frozen pizza dough ball
Italian seasoning, red pepper flakes, fresh cracked pepper, olive oil
fresh basil leaves

I start with a ball of wheat pizza dough from the market.

After it gets to room temperature, I spread it out on a heavy duty 12 x 18 jelly roll pan

 (olive oiled hands required).

  I let the spread dough rest for 10 minutes then spread it again to the edges

 (it tends to "shrink" back so you must do this a second time)

I had already tossed the tomatoes (halved ) with 2 TBSP olive oil, Italian seasoning, some pepper flakes, and fresh ground black pepper..... spread them out in an uncovered roasting pan,

  roast them in a 400 degree oven for 12-15 minutes.

 They will look "shrunken"... let sit while you do the rest.

 Cook the chopped veggies on the stove top (medium heat) in a fry pan, covered,

 in 2 TBSP olive oil, tossing a few times until just cooked but not wilted. 

Now put the cooked tomatoes into the fry pan with the rest of the veggies (make sure you scrape up all the flavored seasoning and juices too).

Fold altogether gently, low heat, 1 -2 minutes only.  Remove from heat.

Spread out the cooked veggies across the pizza dough using a slotted spoon.

  Drizzle some of the liquid from the bottom of the pan evenly across the veggies.

Sprinkle shredded (I use half-skim) mozzarella cheese on top

Roll up fresh basil leaves, slice, and sprinkle across the cheese.
I sometimes do this just as it's coming out of the oven as it looks prettier.

Cook to your personal "doneness".

I find 17 -18 minutes in a 425 oven is enough... longer if you enjoy a crispier crust.

Obviously, the pieces can be cut into any size.  I usually do 4 cuts in both directions.

Bon appetite!
I carry mine out to the porch and enjoy with a glass of wine.

My new Endless Summer Hydrangea bushes are still giving me some beautiful blooms
even though it's the end of September!

this is a "Tiara" serrata lacecap Hydrangea