Zucchini Pizza Bites and Greek Pesto Goat Cheese Pizza

Happy Wednesday!!

Okay so I might be into pizza right now or it’s just that I haven’t been feeling like cooking lately and these have been super easy and quick meals (especially the zucchini bites).

Or maybe I am just needing some carbs in my life. I did buy some GF Flatbread from Trader Joe’s to try as well….and I might make a “pizza” out of it.

Here’s my running update before we devour the good stuff: Monday was an easy 6 miles after work; Tuesday a tough 10 miles before work (my legs were so tired and heavy); and this morning I was so incredibly tired that I slept in. Speed work will happen tomorrow morning (1600 repeats). Next week begins my taper before Boston!! I can’t believe it is already so close.

Zucchini Pizza Bites 

You can eat these for snack or as an appetizer, I guarantee they will be a hit, but honestly they are great for dinner. Marc and I enjoyed them for dinner with some sourdough bread. I think they would be great paired with a salad, or if you’re a meat eater some herbed chicken.

They are a great way to ditch extra carbohydrates and gluten (just don’t pair with the sourdough bread LOL 😉 ). If you have ever tried the bagel bites (pizza bites), these are very similar. After the chopping and baking they only took 15 minutes to make. So fast!!

i can’t wait until summer when I can go to the Farmer’s Market and get big fresh zucchini. I will say it’s much easier using bigger zucchini. I also tried Pesto Bites too using the zucchini. Just  sub the pesto for the pizza sauce; equally as good!!

Prep: 5 minutes tops             Cook time: 10 minutes

Ingredients: 

• 4 zucchini (mine were smaller, but if using rounder and bigger use 2), sliced but not peeled
• 1/2 – 1 Tbs grapeseed oil or olive oil
• 1/4 – 1/2 cup (about) Pizza Sauce or your favorite Marinara (or you can use pesto),
• 1/4 c (about, really depends on how big zucchini are and how much you love cheese) Mozzarella Cheese, shredded
• salt and pepper, for sprinkling (very little)

Directions: Preheat oven to Broil. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or grease with oil. 1. Place zucchini in bowl and lightly coat with oil (don’t saturate them, only need a little oil for broiling). 2. Place zucchini on baking sheet and lightly sprinkle with salt and pepper. 3. Broil zucchini for 5 minutes. 4. Remove from oven, and top with pizza sauce/marinara or pesto, followed by cheese. 5. Return to oven and broil for another 3-5 minutes, until cheese is melted. Remove from oven and Enjoy!! (may want to let them cool before popping one in your mouth. I know it’s hard to resist….no seriously I do!!)

* I like broiling, because it’s quicker and doesn’t dry out the zucchini.

Greek Pesto Goat Cheese Pizza

This pizza has a lot of goodness on it. My sister said it look amazing, and she’s not one for the “weird fancy” pizza’s. I forgot how incredibly simple it is to make your own pizza, especially when you buy the pizza dough already made. Yes I cheated.

Trader Joe’s has a great whole wheat, vegan pizza dough. I am going to try their GF flatbread next. I simply form the dough into a pizza crust, placed on the pizza stone and starting layering.

I love goat cheese and for some reason I have been craving goat cheese. I don’t normally eat a lot of cheese, but lately goat cheese and feta have been on my taste buds. I used pesto, then some cheese, artichokes, mushrooms, kalamata olives, and sun dried tomatoes. Oh and I topped it with arugula. It’s basically a Greek pizza.

And it took all of 20 minutes to make.

Prep time: 10 minutes             Cook time: 8-10 Minutes

Ingredients: 

• 1 Trader Joe’s whole wheat pizza dough
• 1/4 – 1/2 c Pesto
• 1 c mushrooms, sliced
• 1/4 c kalamata olives, halved
• 1/4 – 1/2 c artichoke hearts, marinated and sliced into smaller pieces
• 2 Tbs sun dried tomatoes
• 1 cup packed arugula (or you could use spinach)
• Goat cheese (about 2 Tbs)*

*I actually didn’t use a lot of goat cheese. I bought a 4 ounce container and had half or more leftover. Really there’s not a lot of cheese on the pizza, but feel free to add as much as you like!!

Directions: Preheat oven to 500 degrees (the directions on the dough say as high as you oven goes, but I chose 500 degrees). 1. Prepare dough according to package directions (while the dough sets, I prepared the veggies). 2. Once dough is rolled out into a 12 inch pizza size, throw it on a baking dish or pizza stone (may have to grease the baking dish). 3. Spread the pesto on first. 4. Sprinkle on the goat cheese and then add the remaining ingredients, finishing with Arugula but don’t add the sun dried tomatoes. 5. Bake for 5 minutes, remove pizza and add the sun dried tomatoes (they brown easily). 6. Return to oven and bake for another 3 – 5 minutes, until crust is golden brown. Let cool, slice and Enjoy!!

Servings: 2-3, depending on how hungry you are (we only had 3 slices leftover, but I made a salad to go with it).

Eat up!!