Summer Squash Picnic Pizza 🌼 and Veggie Chips

It’s that time of year when neighborhood gardens that were planted a couple of months ago, have begun to bear fruit. One day this week when I opened my mail box, I found two medium zucchini and two medium yellow summer squash left by one of my neighbors. If you’ve ever grown summer squash, you know it’s harvest is abundant and it can be hard to find new ways to cook it.

My first idea was to create some thin roasted chips for a healthy snack. So I pulled out my mandolin and started slicing. I searched around on Pinterest for different methods of making chips and hoped to achieve a delicate thin crispy chip, with a slight crunch similar to a thin potato chip.

Summer squash contains a lot of moisture that must come out in order to get a crispy texture. As instructed (in the link below) the slices of squash were laid between two layers of paper towel and pressed until most of the moisture came out. (My tip: make several single layers of sliced squash between paper towels and let them sit overnight up to 24 hours). The recipe in the link below involved olive oil, salt and a lot of time in the oven. The end result was delicious, with that potato chip slight oiliness, but its 90 degrees in the South right now and the heat of a gas oven going for hours isn’t a highly desirable method. So after leaving the remaining slices between the layers of paper towel for 24 hours, I gently pulled them up (they stick to the paper towel) and returned them loosely to their original spot. I then put one layer (with paper towel on top and as well) in the microwave and used 30 second intervals (about 6 or 7 times – combined total of 3 to 4 minutes) checking after the first 4 intervals. The chips were not only crisp but retained more of their color along the edges.

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https://www.tablefortwoblog.com/zucchini-chips/ (recipe followed.)

Within hours or the following day, they may be a little soggy again – you can stack the chips loosely on the baking sheet and return them to the oven to crisp up at the same temperature, checking over time, or the back to the microwave.

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  The squash chips have a light salty crispiness. Great snack for summer and delicious with a glass of white wine. (Oven baked)

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  Microwave Crisped.

Picnic🌼Pizza

After about 4 rounds of chip making I still had a bowl of uncooked thinly sliced squash and was ready to find something else to do with it. Once again, I searched through Pinterest for recipes using summer squash and noticed several pizza recipes. I had invited some gal pals to meet at a local park for a little picnic and decided to make mini picnic pizzas inspired by the recipe at this link. https://thismessisours.com/summer-squash-and-ricotta-galette/

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Using one tube of thin refrigerated pizza crust, stretch the dough over a piece of clear plastic wrap or waxed paper to prevent sticking to the counter. The dough is rectangle shaped, so I decided that rather than one large pizza, I wanted to make individual pizzas. The dough could be cut into four rectangles, but I wanted round pizzas. Using a saucer and a pizza cutter (or knife)- cut three free formed circles about 1/2 inch away from the edge of the plate. The dough can be further stretched once cut if necessary. As you can see above, the circles are far from perfect.

Following the recipe from the link above, I combined the ricotta, parmesan, shredded mozzarella, fresh thyme, rosemary and peppers. I did not add any salt and found the cheeses had sufficient salt without adding any more. After tasting the baked pizza, I think the addition of fresh lemon zest to the cheese mixture would have brightened the flavors a little more. Using a small offset spatula, spread a couple of tablespoons of the cheese and herb mixture in the center of the dough leaving the edges clear.

Roll up the edges of the dough, top the center cheese spread with a handful of the thinly sliced squash, and a drizzle of the garlic infused olive oil from the recipe. Brush the edges of the dough with the olive oil and sprinkle grated parmesan over the crust edges and squash. Sprinkle with some of the thyme leaves.

The scraps of dough were rolled into long logs and then tied in a knot. Brushed with garlic infused olive oil, sprinkled with a little garlic powder and grated parmesan.

The recipe’s recommended bake time is 35 to 45 minutes. The smaller pizzas baked a little faster. If making the smaller version like I did, I would recommend setting the first bake for 25 minutes (result shown below). Remove the pizza from the oven and sprinkle with pine nuts. I also added a small amount of shaved parmesan. Return to the oven and bake another 10 minutes.

First bake, with addition of pine nuts and shaved parmesan.

For picnic packaging, loosely wrap each hot pizza in aluminum foil. Place a large cloth napkin or tea towel beneath the stacked foil wrapped pizza’s and tie the opposite corners together. This holds in the heat for quite a while for transport. I used a mini sealed box with a spray of water to transport the violas that were used to garnish the pizza at the picnic.

Garnished with violas just before serving.

After two months of staying home due to COVID-19, I met with a couple of my gal pals for a “social distancing” picnic at a quiet park. We each took a corner of the picnic tablecloth, nibbled on our food and enjoyed a couple of hours of company and conversation.

As the summer heat draws nearer, pack a picnic basket, find a shady tree and enjoy the company of friends for an afternoon and pray you’ll never take for granted the simple pleasure of sharing time with the people in your life. Bring along a picnic pizza and crispy chips!