Summer Garden Kale and Zucchini Pizza

If you know me very well, you know my world revolves around the chance to eat pizza. And I'm really not exaggerating all that much. I just love it. Comfort food to the max.
Some of my earliest childhood memories are Friday nights with my mom, sitting on the floor watching TGIF shows with a Donatos pizza and cans of Pepsi. Good memories.

I'm not a picky pizza eater either. Requirements?
Crust. All kinds are acceptable. Deep dish when in Chicago, thin crust when in NYC. Between those times, everything is fair game.

Sauce. Again, this is not an issue of light or heavy. It just needs some.

Cheese. Yes please. As much and as many varieties as possible.

Toppings. All or few. You can't go wrong. Anchovies...don't deny them till you've tried them.

Now into my mid-thirties. Yes... as of next week MID thirties (whaaa???) pizza is less of a staple and more of a reward. That's incredibly sad on so many levels.

I've tried the cauliflower crust pizza...heck, I even blogged about it. But nothing beats the real deal. And to me, the real deal is brought to me by a college guy driving a little civic sort of car carrying an insulated square bag that literally holds piping hot slices of heaven.

But I would be remiss if I didn't talk about my love of homemade pizza. It took me years to develop a love for it~ mostly due to the fact that 99% of all pizza crust recipes are pure crap. Tasteless, chewy (not that good kind of chewy either)...almost inedible. Almost. (No pizza is ever completely inedible.)

A few years ago I ran across a cheap cookbook called The Figs Table. It has some decent recipes. The pizza dough recipe? Exceptional. I thank God for that recipe in my prayers at night.

I blogged about it here~ with the recipe~ so no need to repeat.

I've been experimenting more with toppings. Changing it up a bit. Less cheese, more healthy stuff...seeing how far I can push the boundaries of healthy pizza until it just becomes pointless.
So far, so good.

The recipe makes 4 balls of dough. Which freeze BRILLIANTLY, by the way. Follow the steps on the other post to ensure the great crust results ~ hot oven, hot pizza stone, etc....

I made the boys their typical cheese and meat sort of pizza favorite. And then I scoured around the blooming garden and the fridge to assemble my own. My own this time around? Kale, thinly sliced zucchini, the first hot pepper from the garden, buffalo mozzarella, a bit of feta and sea salt.

I'll never deny myself the 2am, grease-dripping-down-the-elbows, big-as-my-head slice of NY style pizza. I just won't. I can't. But between those times, I'll reward myself with something a little easier on the stomach...and the looming saddle bags.