Zucchini Pizza Crust
Ingredients
- 3 medium zucchini, about 1 1/2 pounds or 3-4 cups finely shredded and packed
- 1 cup all-purpose or whole wheat flour
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon dried basil
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 large eggs
- ½ cup shredded cheddar cheese
- ½ cup shredded Parmesan cheese
- Pizza sauce (see note)
- Shredded mozzarella cheese
- Pepperoni and/or other toppings
Instructions
- Preheat a baking stone or overturned rimmed baking sheet at 450 degrees F for 30 minutes.
- If you have time, sprinkle the zucchini with a teaspoon of coarse kosher salt (1/2 teaspoon if using table salt) and let it set for 15-20 minutes. Wring out the zucchini really, really well. And when you think it's wrung out all the way, wring it out some more. You want it as dry as possible. You'll end up with about a cup or so after it's been wrung dry.
- In a large bowl, combine the zucchini, flour, garlic powder, oregano, basil, salt, eggs, and cheeses. Stir together (I usually abandon the spoon and dig in my hands to get it all combined).
- Grease a sheet of parchment paper (two pieces if you are making really thin pizzas).
- The dough is pretty soft and sticky so you may want to grease your hands as well. Press the dough into the desired shape and thickness on the greased parchment paper. You can get this dough pretty thin if you work at pressing it out evenly (I like it about 1/4-inch thick).
- Slide the parchment paper with the pizza crust onto the preheated baking stone (if you don't have a pizza peel, you can use an overturned baking sheet to slide it on). Bake for about 10 minutes until the crust looks set and the bottom is starting to brown.
- Carefully remove the parchment and pizza crust from the oven and top with pizza sauce and toppings. Bake for another 3-5 minutes until the cheese is melted and bubbly.
Notes
Pizza Sauce: here is my favorite 2-minute, blender version.
Crust: the dough is pretty soft and sticky so don't be afraid to grease your hands to pat the crust into an even thickness. I personally like the crust fairly thin.
Zucchini Amount: also, keep in mind that if you coarsely grate the zucchini, you might end up with more than the 3-4 cups which is ok - just stick to about 3 medium zucchini (1 1/2 pounds).
Dry Zucchini: I used to use regular old kitchen towels to squeeze the zucchini dry until I had the idea to use the same bag I use for straining yogurt...and it works amazing well. The driest zucchini I've ever wrung out which makes me happy (and means I'm a nerd and I'm ok with that).
Cauliflower: oh, and last thing - one time when I made this, I was short on zucchini, so I shredded up some raw cauliflower and used that with the zucchini (I wrung as much water as I could out of it, too)...and it was equally amazing.