Summer Squash Pizza

Ingredients

• 1 ½ cups flour of your choice (all-purpose or whole wheat flour)
• 1 teaspoon cane sugar
• 1 teaspoon of active dry yeast or ½ packet of yeast
• ½ cup of warm water (105°-110°F)
• ½ teaspoon of salt for dough plus 1 teaspoon for topping
• 1 tablespoon olive oil (for the dough) plus 1 teaspoon (to grease bowl)
• 1 small zucchini
• 1 small straightneck squash
• 3 tablespoons vegan butter
• 1 cup Forager Project 3 Cheeze Blend
• 2-3 tablespoons sesame seeds (optional)

Prep

• In a small bowl mix the warm water and yeast and set aside. The yeast should start to foam after 2–3 minutes. Be careful not to make your water too warm or you can damage (kill) the yeast. If your yeast doesn't foam, dump it out and try again.
• In a large bowl mix the flour, sugar, and salt together. Slowly pour the yeast water and 1 tablespoon olive oil with the dry ingredients and mix until a soft dough has formed. Knead dough for 3-5 minutes, forming it into a ball. Add an additional tablespoon of water if your dough is too dry. Place the dough in an oiled glass bowl. Cover the dough with a kitchen linen and place in a dark and warm place for 45 minutes to 1 hour. Allowing the dough to rise, almost doubling in size.
• Meanwhile, prep your pizza toppings. Melt the butter and slice your summer squash very thinly. Sprinkle salt on top of the squash. This will release water from the squash to ensure the pizza crust has a nice crunch. After waiting 15 minutes for the water to release, dap the excess water from the squash. Set toppings aside.
• Preheat your oven to 500°F. You will need to preheat the oven for one hour to ensure the oven cooks the pizza evenly. If you have a pizza stone, make sure to preheat the oven with this stone inside. Once the dough has doubled in size, flour your counter and, using your fingers, poke and lightly spread the dough into a thin crust (about 1–2 millimeters). When spreading the dough, try not to break up the air bubbles that form, in order to have an airy and light crust. If you are using a metal baking tray, make sure to oil the tray well before placing your dough on the tray. If using a pizza stone, prepare the dough on a floured tray (without an edge) and slide the pizza onto the stone once it has been topped.
• Preheat your oven to 500 degrees F (260 C). Once the dough has risen, punch the dough. Prep your counter for rolling your dough. You can do this by cleaning it or laying a large piece of parchment paper down. Roll out the dough using a rolling pin. If you notice the dough sticking add 1 tsp of flour to the surface. You want to leave the edges of the dough thicker than the middle of the pizza.
• Top your pizza with Forager Project 3 Cheeze blend and squash. Brush the pizza with melted Butter using a pastry brush. Bake for 7 minutes, then turn on broil for the last 2 minutes (if your oven does not have a broil feature then cook at 500°F for 10 minutes). Sprinkle with sesame seeds if desired.

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