The Best Zucchini Recipe Ever - Zucchini Crust Pizza (2024)

FAQs

How do you sweat zucchini before baking? ›

How to Sweat Zucchini. Lay your zucchini slices over a double layer of paper towels and sprinkle both sides with salt. Allow the zucchini to rest for about 10 minutes. The salt will draw out the excess water and you'll see beads of moisture on the surface.

The raw marinated zucchini goes on top of the cooked pizza along with lots of fresh basil, fresh thyme, generous scoops of pesto, and a healthy drizzle of olive oil. It's a fun one to make and assemble because it's so green and pretty! It's delicious too – serve it with extra pesto on the side for scooping!

Prep Your Veggies

Consider grilling, roasting or sautéing vegetables before putting them on the crust; this not only adds another element of flavor to the toppings, but releases much of the moisture. Be sure to use a slotted spoon when removing them from the pan and place them on a paper towel at room temperature.

Spinach - This leafy green is a great addition to pizza as it's mild in flavor and has a soft texture. It's also loaded with nutrients such as iron, calcium, and vitamins A and C. Plus, it pairs well with other toppings such as feta cheese and garlic.

Bad zucchini will feel rubbery or slimy to the touch. It may also have an off-putting smell and dark or fuzzy moldy spots. The interior of bad zucchini may be off-white to brownish with stringy, mushy flesh and large, hard seeds.

Sweating in cooking is the gentle heating of vegetables in a little oil or butter, with frequent stirring and turning to ensure that any emitted liquid will evaporate. Sweating usually results in tender, sometimes translucent, pieces.

Grate, don't chop.

Here's how to grate a zucchini: Cut off the ends of the zucchini and rub it against the shredder side of a box grater to make a pile of squash that's perfectly sized for baking zucchini bread. You can also use the shredder blade in your food processor to quickly shred zucchini.

Don't overcrowd the pan, which can cause the zucchini to steam instead of roast. Unless you have time to salt and drain the zucchini, wait to salt it until after they're cooked so the salt doesn't draw out the moisture in the oven—this can lead to sogginess.

Unlike sautéing, you want to sweat vegetables over a medium heat and you don't want the vegetables to start browning. Look for the vegetables to start glistening and softening around the edges, then move on to the next step in the recipe.