Dear friends, welcome back to our light and tasty recipe of the week. Today we talk about the colors of summer, and I present these grilled zucchini and tomato mini pizzas topped with oregano, capers, olives, and mint-flavored ricotta.
These mini pizzas are a bit different, no classic mozzarella and no tomato sauce, but the pizza flavor is there… just don’t forget the oregano! 😀
To be honest, these zucchini mini pizzas weren’t originally intended to be mini pizzas. They were meant as an appetizer, snack, bite, finger food, roll. You know those zucchini rolls, usually filled with spreadable cheese, cream cheese, ricotta, or ham, served as appetizers and at buffets? That’s what they were supposed to be.
But since the two zucchinis I had were quite large (two big zucchinis from a local farm), I got the idea to slice them into rounds instead of lengthwise. Then… I improvised. After cooking the zucchini and tomatoes and flavoring the ricotta with mint (when I still planned to use it as filling for the missed rolls), I thought of turning it into a filling for unequal paired zucchini and tomato rounds, which I seasoned with oregano, a few capers, and a few olives. The pizza flavor always works in our house, with anything.
A very simple recipe, one of those that practically cooks itself, as the grill or griddle does its job while you can cook something else in the meantime. Just remember to occasionally turn the slices, of course.
The real ‘dilemma’ came afterward when I realized I had cooked rolls turned into mini pizzas that weren’t really mini pizzas, weren’t zucchini kisses, weren’t canapés, nor finger food, and not even towers (you know those towers that go viral on the web every summer? Well, two slices don’t make a tower, you agree, right?). 😀
In the end, I had to organize a contest titled “Give this recipe a title”! 😄 And the participants in the contest – the inimitable, imaginative colleagues of the Light and Tasty Team – helped me with this arduous, debilitating task. Great! No, I’ll never have a career as a title designer, that’s for sure!
It’s true that the moral is always the same: cooking recipes is much easier than writing them! 😄
〰〰〰
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Very budget-friendly
- Preparation time: 40 Minutes
- Portions: 20 Pieces
- Cooking methods: Griddle, Stove
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Summer
Ingredients
- 2 large zucchinis
- 3 ripe tomatoes
- 3.5 oz ricotta
- 6 capers
- 3 olives
- mint
- oregano
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Tools
- Griddle
Steps
Flavor the ricotta with mint (or alternatively with oregano) and briefly work it with a spoon.
Slice the zucchinis into rounds and grill them on a griddle (an electric griddle also works).
Slice the tomatoes into rounds and grill them.
(It is preferable to use San Marzano-type tomatoes).
Spoon a teaspoon of ricotta onto each grilled zucchini round.
Cover with a slice of grilled tomato.
Season with extra virgin olive oil, oregano, capers, and olives.
And for those who love red onion… I suggest adding a few pieces of onion (even better if it’s spring onion) to add a crunchy note to these zucchini mini pizzas and add that extra flavor 😉 (read the Salt-Free Tips after the photo!).
Enjoy your meal!
Salt-Free Tips
In this recipe, there are two low-sodium notes:
1. Use capers and olives sparingly: as seen in the photos, I used only one caper and one olive slice per mini pizza. This is a trick I already mentioned in the Salt-Free Tips of this salad, to which I refer you for more information.
2. Use raw onion as a flavor enhancer: I will add this recipe among the suggestions for “Flavoring with Garlic and Onion” found in the article Recipes and Strategies to Reduce Salt in Cooking.
😉
If you’re interested in reducing or eliminating salt, always remember to:
▫ Gradually decrease the salt; the palate should adjust slowly and not notice the progressive reduction.
▫ Use spices. Chili pepper, pepper, curry, nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves, cumin…
▫ Use aromatic herbs. Basil, parsley, oregano, thyme, sage, marjoram, rosemary, mint…
▫ Use seeds. Sesame, pine nuts, almonds, walnuts…
▫ Use spicy vegetables or fruits. Garlic, onion, lemon, orange…
▫ Use my vegetable granulate without salt and gomasio.
▫ Prefer fresh foods.
▫ Avoid cooking in water; prefer cooking methods that retain flavors (griddle, foil, steam, microwave)
▫ Avoid bringing the salt shaker to the table!
▫ Occasionally break the rule. It’s good for the mood and helps persevere.
If you don’t want to or cannot give up salt:
▫ You can still try my recipes, salting according to your habits.
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Light and Tasty:
What did my colleagues from the Light and Tasty Team decide to cook for this release dedicated to the colors of summer?
Carla Emilia: Stewed Baby Octopus
Cinzia: Bruschetta with Vegetables and Cheese
Claudia: Tomato Burger
Daniela: Apricot Galette
Elena: Fusilli with Tomato and Stracciatella with Fava Bean Cream
Milena: Apricot Cakes in Air Fryer
Carla Emilia: Stewed Baby Octopus
Cinzia: Bruschetta with Vegetables and Cheese
Claudia: Tomato Burger
Daniela: Apricot Galette
Elena: Fusilli with Tomato and Stracciatella with Fava Bean Cream
Milena: Apricot Cakes in Air Fryer
