Garden Vegetable Pizza with Calamansi-Chile Finish

Garden Vegetable Pizza with Calamansi-Chile Finish Recipe

A colorful vegetable pizza with mushrooms, zucchini, bell pepper, corn, and red onion, finished after baking with a bright calamansi, chile, and honey drizzle.

Yield: 1 (14-inch) pizza, cut into 8 slices Serving size: 1 slice (1/8 pizza)

Yield note: One pound of prepared dough makes a medium-thin 14-inch crust. The pizza serves 4 as a main dish or 6 to 8 as part of a larger merienda or party spread.

Shopping List

• 1-pound prepared pizza dough ball
• prepared pizza sauce
• olive oil
• cremini mushrooms
• zucchini
• red bell pepper
• red onion
• frozen corn kernels
• garlic
• fine salt
• low-moisture whole-milk mozzarella
• Parmesan cheese
• calamansi juice
• honey
• Fresno chile
• scallions

Ingredients

Dough and Sauce

• 1 pound prepared plain pizza dough, refrigerated or thawed
• 1/3 cup (85 grams) prepared pizza sauce

Garden Vegetable Topping

• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 4 ounces cremini mushrooms, sliced 1/4 inch thick
• 4 ounces zucchini, quartered lengthwise and sliced 1/4 inch thick
• 1/2 medium red bell pepper (about 3 ounces), cut into thin strips
• 1/3 small red onion (about 2 ounces), thinly sliced
• 1/3 cup (2 ounces) thawed frozen corn kernels, patted dry
• 1 garlic clove, finely grated
• 1/8 teaspoon fine salt
• 6 ounces low-moisture whole-milk mozzarella, shredded
• 1/2 ounce Parmesan cheese, finely grated (about 3 tablespoons)

Calamansi-Chile Finish

• 1 tablespoon fresh, frozen, or unsweetened bottled calamansi juice
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 teaspoon honey
• 1 Fresno chile, seeded if desired and finely chopped
• 2 scallions, thinly sliced

Instructions

1. Take the 1-pound dough ball out of the refrigerator 60 to 90 minutes before shaping. Keep it covered so the surface does not dry out.
2. During the final 45 minutes of the dough rest, place a pizza stone or steel on a lower-middle rack and heat the oven to 500 F. For a dark heavy pizza pan or sheet-pan fallback, heat the oven to 475 F and plan on 2 to 4 extra minutes of baking.
3. Whisk the calamansi juice, 1 tablespoon olive oil, honey, and chopped Fresno chile in a small bowl. Set the finish aside while the pizza bakes.
4. Heat the remaining 2 teaspoons olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms in one layer and cook without stirring for 2 minutes, then stir and cook 1 minute more.
5. Add the zucchini, bell pepper, red onion, corn, garlic, and fine salt. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes, tossing often, just until the vegetables lose their raw edge but remain crisp.
6. Spread the vegetables on a plate so they cool quickly. Blot away any liquid left in the skillet or on the plate before topping the pizza.
7. Shape the relaxed dough into a 14-inch round with a slightly raised rim. If it contracts, cover it for 10 minutes, then continue stretching.
8. Transfer the dough to an oven-safe sheet of parchment or a prepared pizza peel. Spread on the sauce, leaving a 3/4-inch border.
9. Scatter on three-quarters of the mozzarella, distribute the cooled vegetables evenly, then add the remaining mozzarella and all the Parmesan. Keep the layer loose rather than piling vegetables in the center.
10. Slide the pizza onto the hot stone or steel and bake until the underside is browned, the rim is crisp, and the cheese bubbles in spots, 10 to 13 minutes. Use the same visual cues with a conventional pizza pan.
11. Transfer the pizza to a cutting board. Stir the calamansi-chile finish, then spoon it in a thin stream over the hot pizza and scatter on the scallions.
12. Rest for 3 minutes, cut into 8 slices, and serve while the crust is crisp and the citrus aroma is fresh.