Summer Squash Pizza with Goat Cheese and Prosciutto with Aged Balsamic

We tried our hand again and made a pizza with some of this summers beautiful yellow squash. If you don’t feel like making a pizza dough you can usually pick some up at your grocery or a local pizza shop like Brixx. Stretch it out, brush with a fresh garlic olive oil, cook it in the oven for about 6 minutes, and you are ready to assemble the toppings. A layer of mozzarella, some thinly sliced summer squash, strips of prosciutto, and a sprinkling of crumbled goat cheese and back in the oven it goes for another 4 minutes or so. Drizzle this with a your favorite balsamic vinegar and you have an beautiful artisanal pizza made for the gods.

---

SUMMER SQUASH PIZZA WITH GOAT CHEESE AND PROSCIUTTO WITH AGED BALSAMIC (Yield: 2 (12-inch) or 4 (8-inch) pizzas)

Ingredients

• Vegetable oil, for brushing grill grates
• 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling and brushing
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella
• ½ pound summer squash, thinly sliced on a mandoline
• 4 ounces goat cheese, crumbled
• 4 ounces thinly sliced prosciutto, torn into 1-inch pieces
• 1 recipe Perfect Pizza Dough
• 2 tablespoons aged balsamic vinegar, for drizzling
• 2 tablespoons chopped thyme
• Flaky sea salt

Directions

1. Preheat a grill to medium-high and brush grill grates with a thin coating of vegetable oil using a silicone pastry brush.
2. In a small bowl, combine four tablespoons olive oil with minced garlic. Place the mozzarella, squash, goat cheese and prosciutto in separate small mixing bowls and place near grill.
3. Once your grill is preheated and your toppings are set, start rolling out your dough. Dust a work surface with flour. Flatten one dough ball to a thickness of 1/2 inch, and roll to desired diameter, making sure that your dough rounds will fit on your grilling surface. Transfer rolled dough to a parchment paper-lined rimmed baking sheet, cover with another piece of parchment and proceed with remaining dough.
4. Lightly dust a pizza peel with cornmeal. Place dough rounds, one at a time, on the pizza peel and carefully transfer to grill grates. Cover, and cook until grill marks develop, 2 to 3 minutes. Open grill lid, transfer dough rounds to a baking sheet and repeat with remaining dough rounds. Flip each dough round so grill marks face up.
5. Brush grilled side lightly with garlic oil and spread each round with mozzarella. Arrange the squash in a single layer, then dot with goat cheese and prosciutto. Reduce heat to medium-low and return topped dough rounds to grill; cover and grill until the cheese melts and the crust is cooked through, 3 to 4 minutes. Remove the pizza from the grill and place on a cutting board. Let pizza rest for 1 to 2 minutes before cutting.
6. Brush the edge of each crust with oil. Garnish with a drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil and a drizzle of aged balsamic vinegar. Sprinkle with thyme and flaky sea salt and serve.

~ from SurLaTable.com ~