Grilled squash blossom pizza

A few weekends ago my friends Shannon, Emily, Natasha and I got together to check out Emily’s amazing garden and grill squash blossom pizzas. Juliet came along and had a good time toddling around the backyard and picking flowers. Oh and she was in a prime mom only mood that day and it was pretty difficult trying to roll out pizza dough with a toddler on my hip. Needless to say the gals had to pick up my slack with the pizza. Regardless of her little tantrums that day she sure was adorable checking out all the flowers and picking them one by one and handing them to me. These photos are way over-exposed but oh well.  The pizza ready to be finished on the grill (the crust had about been grilled, then we removed it to add the toppings).
We made 3 different kinds of pizza that day and I’m sort of embarrassed to admit we almost finished it all.  We had pesto pizza with roasted red peppers and black olives, pesto pizza with squash blossoms and squash blossom pizza with traditional tomato sauce. All were delicious.

Grilled the pizza gives the crust an amazing flavor and texture. It achieves a crispy outside with a perfect soft inside. And grilling is great for immediacy, it only takes about 5-7 minutes total on the grill to be completely done.
Squash blossoms are in season around early to mid-summer and you can find them in your garden or at your local farmers market. They are super delicate and have a very mild taste. Basically they are perfect for smothering in cheese or stuffing with ricotta and frying. We did get to a point that day (thank goodness) where Juliet was content sitting on a blanket and eating watermelon while I helped grill pizza.  We sipped wine and also rhubarb tea-infused vodka lemonades. I haven’t mastered that cocktail quite yet but have been experimenting a lot with the infused vodka I received from Prairie Organic Vodka.

Grilled squash blossom pizza (makes about 4 smaller sized pizzas)

Ingredients

Fresh pizza crust (we used the 16 oz bag of whole wheat crust from Trader Joe’s)
1 1/2 cup pizza sauce (store bought is fine, we used Trader Joe’s)
2 – 3 cups shredded mozzarella (fresh would be awesome as well)
3/4 cup shredded parmesan or pecorino romano cheese
10 squash blossoms, washed
4 Tablespoons olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
Salt and pepper
Crushed red pepper flakes (optional)

Preparation

Allow the pizza dough to sit at room temperature for at least 20 minutes.

Heat the grill. Heat olive oil in a pan with minced garlic (to infuse the oil).

Divide the pizza dough into 4 balls. Roll out into rounds using flour to keep from sticking. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and red pepper flakes (if using).

Place dough on the grill, it’s easiest to do one pizza one at a time. Wait for it to begin to bubble and then flip (should only take a minute or two). Grill the other side for an additional 2 minutes then carefully remove from the grill.

Add the sauce to the grilled crust then top with mozzarella and parmesan/romano and squash blossoms (I added more cheese on top of each squash blossom so it was nice and cheesy). Place the pizza back on the grill and close lid so the cheese can melt (this will take about 3-5 minutes).

Remove from grill and slice. Repeat with additional pizzas.

For the pesto pizza we used about 1/3 cup of pesto instead of pizza sauce (we made it fresh but you can use store-bought) and topped with about 1/4 cup chopped roasted red peppers and 1/4 cup black olives). For the pesto pizza with squash blossoms we simply used pesto instead of tomato sauce.

Have you ever tried pizza on the grill? It’s pretty awesome and probably one of my favorite summer meals. It’s a nice departure from burgers and brats and I think a BBQ with build-your-own grilled pizzas would be really fun.

Are you all as ready for the weekend as I am? Happy Friday.