Zucchini and Ricotta White Pizza

Change up your pizza night with this zucchini and ricotta white pizza. You may think you need tomato sauce for pizza, but you really don’t! This combo will definitely change your mind for your next pizza night or easy weeknight dinner recipe.

You know those nights when you just can’t fathom the idea of cooking dinner, but you don’t want another takeout meal? Hi! That’s me at least once a week and my cure to this problem nine times out of ten is PIZZA NIGHT!

I’m not sure why, but for a while we reserved pizza night for special occasions. My guess is that since pizza isn’t always deemed the “healthiest” food on the block, even I developed guilty feelings around it. I’ve done a lot of personal work since that time of my life (read more here) and now view pizza as a very normal and balanced part of life! If you’ve never tried white pizza, promise me you’ll give this recipe a try! Pro-tip: To make these a super easy weeknight recipe just buy store-bought pizza crust.

What is White Pizza?

First things first, what the heck is white pizza? White pizza skips tomato sauce and focuses on the cheese. My kind of pizza. This recipe includes a drizzle of olive oil, herbs, veggies and a mixture of ricotta and mozzarella cheese. I love mixing in white pizzas every now and again just to switch things up!

Tips to Make the Perfect Pizza

As a self proclaimed pizza connoisseur, I figured I’d share my pizza hacks with you…

Hack #1: Don’t feel you have to make the dough yourself. This was a big barrier for me. After my last bread-making attempts, I realized that maybe I should lay low on the yeast and leave the work up to the professionals. It’s totally cool to buy pre-made dough or crust!

Hack #2: Stock up on dough. When I buy pizza dough, I actually buy several of them and store them in the freezer. Then I take one out an hour before I plan to make the pizza to let it thaw. This means that I am always prepared should I want to whip one up.

Hack #3: Quality matters. Now I know that not everyone has access to a local, sourdough bakery (they’re basically on every street corner in San Francisco!), but try to pick a better quality dough. Maybe that means reaching for whole wheat or a boxed brand like Simple Mills that does a great grain-free crust. Same goes for the veggies and cheese!

Hack #4: Fill half your plate with veggies and the other half with pizza. This is how I roll and if you’ve followed my Instagram shenanigans you know this to be the case. I always whip up a salad when I’m making pizza to ensure I’m also getting in my greens. Plus the pizza has zucchini so it’s basically a superfood.

RELATED: Simple Kale Tahini Salad

If my healthy hacks didn’t convince you, maybe this will: this meal LITERALLY takes 30 minutes to put together and only about 10 mins of work. Once you have the crust rolled out it’s just a matter of sprinkling on the ingredients and baking the pizza. If you’re a lazy weeknight eater or don’t meal prep like me, this recipe is your calling.

When in doubt, pizza is always the answer. I’m convinced of it!

Zucchini and Ricotta White Pizza

Change up your pizza night with this zucchini and ricotta white pizza. You may think you need tomato sauce for pizza, but you really don’t! This combo will definitely change your mind for your next pizza night or easy weeknight dinner recipe.

• Author: Davida Lederle
• Prep Time: 10 minutes
• Cook Time: 20 minutes
• Total Time: 30 minutes
• Yield: 12 slices 1x

Scale 1x2x3x

Ingredients

• 1 12 inch pizza dough*
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 8 ounces mozzarella, sliced
• 4 ounces ricotta
• 1 small zucchini, sliced
• 1/4–1/2 cup fresh basil, chopped
• salt and pepper, to taste
• optional: red pepper flakes

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 450 degrees F.
2. Spread your pizza dough directly onto a baking sheet (use flour if needed) until it’s 12 inches around.
3. Drizzle crust with olive oil and top with minced garlic.
4. Add mozzarella, ricotta and and zucchini slices.
5. Bake for 10 mins on bottom rack. Place on top rack and bake for an additional 10 mins. Watch closely as all ovens are different.
6. Remove from oven and top with fresh basil, salt and pepper and red pepper flakes, if using.
7. Cut into 8 slices and serve immediately.

*I use organic sourdough crust that I get from a local bakery. Feel free to use what you have access to or if you’re gluten-free, I really enjoy the Simple Mills pizza crust.

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