, How to Video, Step by step

Courgette and mozzarella pizza

An easy-to-make summery pizza, making the most of seasonal courgettes.

Mark Stower, Director of Food and Service

Preparation Time: 20 mins

Cooking Time: 10 mins

Serves: 10

Ingredients

Step 1

To make the pizza dough, follow the manufacturer’s instructions.
Step 2

To make your pizza bases, divide the dough into 4 and roll each piece into an oblong shape, roughly 5mm in thickness. Use your fingers to stretch and pull the dough.
Step 3

Transfer your pizza bases onto a baking sheet and spread 2 tbs of passata evenly over the top of each, leaving a thin border around the edge.
Step 4

Cut the courgettes into thin rounds. In a frying pan, add the olive oil and sauté the courgettes in one layer, over a medium heat for 1 minute each side. Remove from the pan and leave to cool.
Step 5

Now add the courgette slices evenly across each pizza.
Step 6

Thinly slice the mozzarella and place pieces between the courgette slices on each pizza.
Step 7

Place your baking sheets into a pre-heated hot oven, 240˚C, gas mark 9 and cook for approximately 8-10 minutes or until the pizzas are cooked through.
Step 8

To serve, scatter the rocket leaves and a sprinkle of grated parmesan cheese over each pizza.

Pizza has a bit of a bad reputation as a ’fast food’ but it all depends on the toppings. It can be transformed into something quite healthy, especially when adding extra vegetables and using the right type of cheese as in Mark’s delicious recipe this month.
Courgettes belong to the same family as marrows, cucumbers, melons, and squash – the Cucurbita pepo species. They are usually green, long, and thin, but there are also lovely, yellow and round varieties, which have become popular, especially to grow at home.
Are courgettes vegetables or fruits? Although we eat them as vegetables, they are the swollen, seed-containing part of the courgette flower, so botanically speaking they would be classified as fruits.
Courgettes, like other squashes, are believed to have originated in Central and Southern America and to have been brought to Europe by Christopher Columbus about 500 years ago.
Mozzarella, a mild soft, fresh Italian cheese, made from buffalo or cow’s milk, is a good cheese for making a healthier pizza. The fat content is around 18-20%, considerably lower than that of other cheeses such as full fat cheddar, which contains around 35% fat.
A serving of this pizza would provide about one of your 5 A Day from the courgettes and another one from the concentrated tomatoes in the passata and from the rocket – serve it with a crunchy side salad and it’s an easy way to three portions of veg in one meal!

DR JULIET GRAY, NUTRITIONIST