C & D's New Zealand Vegetarian Pizza

My best friend and her husband went to New Zealand as honeymoon and overall celebration of their love of adventure and each other last year.  I heard reports of incredible food (which wasn't a surprise, NZ has an great food reputation) wonderful restaurants and fabulous wine.  She raved about a pizza they had, which so captivated them both that they enlisted my help to re-create the pizza and get the flavors down in a recipe.  This was a HUGE challenge for me since I actually wasn't there and didn't experience the food first-hand.  I usually have no problem re-creating dishes I've eaten but re-creating based on someone's notes and memory? Tough.  BUT.  She came to visit me and one of our major projects was to make this spectacular and memorable pizza.  Take a look at the delicious, delicate and simply divine "New Zealand Pizza".  

 

I must confess, we did this together once trying to replicate what they had eaten in New Zealand.  It was basically a white(no tomato sauce) pizza with zucchini, mushrooms, feta cheese and sun-dried tomatoes. It was drizzled with honey and also aioli, which are two components that makes the pizza super-scrumptious-memorable-to-die-for.  They did find the pizza just slightly bland when they had it and they'd also ordered a delicious spinach salad with roasted squash and warm red-pepper dressing.  Well, somehow in their restaurant, they ended up putting the salad on top of the pizza and then, it hit EXACTLY the right note and that's what my friend and I re-created.  We made a pizza, we made a salad, and then we put the pizza on top of the salad.  Like this. 

Now, I did think it was delicious.  And, I loved the whole combination of flavors.  But, it was too messy, too complicated and not as simply pleasurable as eating a terrific slice of pizza.  It tasted good, but missed the mark for me.  So, I tried again and re-vamped the recipe to merge the concepts, but eliminate the need for the salad on top.  I integrated the flavors of the salad into the pizza.  And WOW.  In my opinion, my dear friend, this is the ultimate New Zealand Pizza recipe.  I think it turned out even better than the one we made together.  But, if you want them separate still, you go right ahead.  It's your choice.

Here's the recipe for what I liked best in this New Zealand-inspired pizza. Warning, this is time-intensive and process-intensive.  But WORTH IT.

Ingredients

Makes one pizza, serves about 2-4

For the Dough: (makes 2 pizza doughs, I always freeze one)

1 1/2 tsp. active dry yeast

1 c. lukewarm water

3 1/4 c. unbleached flour

2 1/2 T. extra virgin olive oil
1/2 T. salt

a pizza stone

a pizza peel

cornmeal for sprinkling

For the Aioli:

2 egg yolks

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 c. extra virgin olive oil

1/4 c. canola oil

1/4 lemon, juiced

1/2 tsp. kosher salt

1/4 tsp. white pepper

water, as necessary

For the Pizza:

1 12" pizza dough rolled out flat, dusted with cornmeal

1/4 c. roasted butternut squash (seasoned with salt, pepper, olive oil) smashed or pureed

1/3 c. fresh spinach, sliced

6 cremini mushrooms, thinly sliced, marinated with 1 clove garlic and 1 tsp. olive oil

1/2 c. sun-dried tomatoes, chopped

1 small zucchini, thinly sliced

1/3 c. feta cheese, crumbled

1/4 tsp. dried oregano

1/4 c. garlic aioli (from recipe above)

2 T. good quality honey with nice floral taste, orange blossom honey is GREAT

Method:

1. Make the dough: Dissolve the yeast completely in a large bowl with 1/4 c. water.  When dissolved, add 1 cup flour and mix thoroughly with a wooden spoon.  Gradually while stirring, add 1 T. olive oil, 1/2 tablespoon salt, 1/4 c. lukewarm water and 1 cup more flour.  Add again, until you've used everything in the dough recipe but hold back a little of flour and water the last time. You may not use them all and only need enough to keep the dough soft, but not sticky.

2. Take the dough from the bowl and slap it down hard against the work counter several times and stretch it out to about 10 inches.  Then, begin kneading the dough and folding it over.  Give a quarter turn between each knead.  Repeat for about 10 minutes until the dough is pliable but stretchy.  You can also do this in a stand mixer and dough hook but I like my hands better.  Pat the kneaded dough into a round shape. 

3. Put about 1 tsp. olive oil inside a clean bowl and place the dough inside. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise until doubled, about 3 hours.  30 minutes before you're ready to bake, put the pizza stone in the bottom of the oven (all racks removed) and preheat oven to 450˚F.  Divide the risen dough in half and freeze one unless you're doubling this recipe.  Flatten the dough with your hands and sprinkle cornmeal on your pizza peel.  Place the dough on the peel and roll out as thin and flat as possible. Let the rim be somewhat higher and thicker than the rest.  I also use my fingers to shape it too.

4. In a small bowl, make the aioli.  Whisk together the egg yolks and add the minced garlic. Slowly drizzle in the oils, a few drops at a time and whisk vigorously.  In essence, you're making a mayonnaise so the faster you whisk and the slower you drizzle the thicker it will be.  Add the lemon juice and whisk again.  Season with the salt and white pepper and whisk again.  If the aioli is too thick to drizzle with a spoon, add a few tablespoons of water and whisk.  

3. Begin layering the pizza while it's still on the peel.  Spread the roasted butternut squash evenly on the pizza dough in a light layer.  Think of this as the sauce layer and don't make it thick, but thinly and evenly spread.  Add the chopped spinach.  (If you're making red pepper dressing, then drizzle that on top of the spinach, see below.) Add the sliced and marinated mushrooms, then the sun-dried tomatoes, zucchini and crumbled feta cheese.  Sprinkle the oregano over the top of the pizza.  Drizzle the aioli over the pizza next and lastly, drizzle or squeeze the honey on top in long, thin stripes.  Do NOT let the pizza sit out at this state.  As soon as it's made, it should go into the screaming hot oven. 

4. Open the oven and slide the pizza onto the hot stone by quickly jerking the peel out from under the pizza.  (Think of pulling the tablecloth out from under a set table.) Bake for 15-20 minutes, until the dough is a crusty golden brown and the topping is cooked, and cheese is bubbling golden.  This make take a few minutes longer, be patient and check the crust every 5 minutes starting at 15.  Remove the pizza stone from the oven and let cool a few minutes.  Cut into pieces, I like to use kitchen shears, and serve immediately.  If you keep the pizza on the hot stone, it'll stay warm while you're eating the first round.  If you use a pizza cutter, do NOT cut it on the stone. Slide the pizza off onto a cutting board first. 

I didn't use the Red Pepper Dressing in my ultimate pizza.  I found the pizza was getting quite loaded up and didn't want it to be wet or soggy.  Also, it was one extra component that was simpler to leave out. I did miss the flavor, but the pizza was still spectacular. If you want to include the dressing too, just whip it together as follows and drizzle it over the spinach layer before you add the mushrooms. You make it using and whirling it together in a food processor until smooth.  Drizzle the oil in last, slowly.

You can see we had it on the stove but that was as a warm salad dressing.  You wouldn't need to warm it if you're going to bake it with the pizza.

Roasted Red Pepper Dressing

1 whole red pepper roasted over open flame (if you don't know how to do this, ask me!)

1 clove garlic

4 fresh basil leaves

1/3 c. parmigiano reggiano

1/4 tsp. kosher salt 

1/4 c. olive oil

Comments

[Carlene]

I am so excited. My mouth is watering reading it. I'll be happy to give it a try both first and second way. I'll make your simpler way first since the garden tomatoes aren't here yet. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you.

[Stephanie Beack]

Hooray! Thanks for waiting so long, sorry about that. Let me know which version you two like best, after you get the chance to do both.

[Sophie]

I need to try a no-tomato sauce based pizza, all of the veggies combined on top look sound delicious together!

[Stephanie Beack]

Sophie, go for it! Let me know what you think. To me, it's lovely and delicate but also warm and comforting!

[kat]

I had something like this about 20 years ago in California, except mozzarella instead of feta, and green onions, minced garlic and eggplant instead of butternut squash.

[Stephanie Beack]

That sounds good too, Kat. I think this version is more delicate, however. It's quite unique to have a pizza with no onions or garlic whatsoever. Not in the slightest bland, it's a celebration of these beautiful veggies.

[Pizza Christchurch]

I'm a vegetarian myself and i am a fan of pizzas. Thank you for the post. You give me some ideas. My mouth is watering now.

[Stephanie Beack]

Pizza Christchurch, you're welcome! I truly hope you try and love it.