Squash Blossom Pizza

I get it edible flowers are borderline relevant to a flower farmer’s blog but hey I think flowers and food are the perfect combination!

I have been drooling over the thought of cooking with squash blossoms since I learned it was a thing! I must admit, I’m not finding myself often craving zucchini but after making this pizza… I am craving some more squash blossoms!

Squash blossoms are an interesting flower to harvest in that the best time of day is midday, to get the most flavor. Me, personally, I like to harvest them early evening when the flowers have closed for the night. These delicious beauties don’t have a long shelf life, so using them in a day or so is best, trust me they are worth it!

Are you ready to get your fancy pizzeria chef hat on? Don’t worry, fancy dough tossing is not a must (though Graham has gotten pretty good at it!)

Also, you know it is a real homemade recipe when the recipe doesn’t come with actual amounts! Have fun with it and change it to your taste! Do drizzle and dollops count as a measurement? haha!

What you need:

Your favorite Pizza dough recipe or pre-made

Ricotta Cheese

1/2 a sweet onion, sliced

2 T butter

Extra virgin olive oil

Squash Blossoms, washed and coated in olive oil

optional: Gorgonzola cheese

Okay, first you need to start caramelizing your onions. Take your butter and put it over low heat, add your onions. Cook it low and slow, if your having a pizza party we made multiple different pizzas and saved this one for the grand finale (because… caramelized onions are worth the patience!).

While your onions are cooking do ahead and wash your squash blossoms, I also fill the inside of the blossoms with water because sometime we have stow-a-way ants! Pat dry. In a shallow bowl, place squash blossoms and coat with olive oil and lightly salt.  The flowers soak up the oil, you may find you will want to add a little more before putting on pizza. Set aside. 

Go ahead and roll out (or toss) your chosen pizza dough, (we’d share Graham’s recipe but that’s a whole beast of a process for us to share later!). Lightly brush olive oil on the dough.

Once onions are nice and caramelized, it’s time to add the toppings (or at least some of them!). Add dollops of ricotta to your liking, making sure it will be even across the pizza. Then add caramelized onions.

Place pizza in the oven. Now, my father-in-law got a pretty fancy cooker thing so we’re cooking our pizzas in under five minutes at about 700F. This is where my instructions might get confusing but I will try my best. You are going to want to add squash blossoms and gorgonzola at about the las 20% of cook time remaining. Your crust can help you determine this. The crust should be fully risen but right before there is browning on it.

Let your pizza finish cooking, pull to let cool. Slice and enjoy a slice of squash blossom heaven!