Courtesy of Cary McDowell, Winslow's Home
March/April 2010
Serves four
For the flatbread, a Weber Kettle charcoal grill served as a wood-fired pizza oven by using a pizza stone over a very hot hardwood fire.
The easy way is to buy a premade, artisanal flatbread or pizza shell. Mr. McDowell likes the one available at Breadsmith (10031 Manchester, 314-822-8200, breadsmith.com), which works like a charm and has a good balance of crispiness and chewiness.
- 2 pizza shells
- 2 Zephyr or other fresh-picked sweet summer squashes
- 8 ounces ricotta cheese (the dryer, the better)
- Extra-virgin olive oil
- Salt
- Pepper
- Thyme
Preheat stone as mentioned above, or in a hot household oven to 425.
Drizzle olive oil on each prebaked shell. Smear half of the ricotta on the shells, and season to taste with salt and pepper.
Slice the squash lengthwise, paper-thin. Arrange with cheese layer on each shell, and drizzle with olive oil, salt, and pepper. On top, place irregular spoonfuls of remaining ricotta cheese, and season them with salt and pepper. This will "protect" the squash, and melt the same way traditional pizza cheese does.
Put pizza in oven. Assuming it's as hot as discussed earlier, it will take 2 to 3 minutes, or until the edges are crispy. It's important that the flatbread cools for a minute, to allow the cheese to relax.
Cut the flatbread, then pull fresh thyme leaves directly from stems onto the pie. Residual heat will activate its sweet oils.
Crack fresh black pepper from a pepper mill on top, and drizzle with your favorite honey.
Note: The pizza may be preassembled up to 4 hours ahead of time, which is nice for a party.
