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Sharing one of my favorite cheesy pizzas, Garden Greens Goddess Pizza. This is the early summer pizza we all should be making. Homemade pizza dough topped with spicy homemade “goddess” style basil pesto, shredded kale, creamy cheese, and garden-fresh zucchini. Roast everything up in a super hot oven until the zucchini becomes almost chip-like, the cheese is melty and bubbly, and the crust is golden and perfect. Once out of the oven, top with fresh basil for the most delicious garden-style summery pizza.
As we enter into the early summer months, I’m really looking forward to cooking (and baking) with fresh produce. I love seeing what’s growing in everyone’s gardens and what the local farm stands and markets are carrying. When I made this pizza last week, we were experiencing some very beautiful spring weather and I was so inspired to cook with the overflowing produce in my fridge.
I wanted something light, fresh, and colorful. A fun recipe that would incorporate the herbs we are currently growing in our garden. Sure, it’s a bit early for gardens to be producing an abundance of zucchini and kale, but soon enough…I’m just helping us all prepare!
Speaking of gardens, are any of you tending to gardens this season? It’s tricky trying to grow produce here where we live in Colorado. If not covered, there are many nights where the produce will freeze. Even during the hottest month of the year. But I’m excited to already have herbs in full bloom and leafy greens on the way…all thanks to our greenhouse!
When it comes to cooking in the summer months, I tend to keep things simple. That means creating recipes with lots of produce. After months of quarantined cooking, it’s going to be nice to lighten things up a bit.
Enter this pizza, it still feels hearty and crave-worthy, but yet it incorporates so much fresh produce and flavorful herbs. It’s going to be perfect for busy summer nights when you have tons of greens, zucchini, and basil in the fridge.
Which is how this pizza came to be. It was created using the contents of my fridge, our herb-garden, and the abundance of homemade goat cheese we now have. My favorite recipes are always the ones created on the fly.
As with most of my pizza recipes, this is simple. And you can easily swap ingredients dependent on your tastes and what you have on hand.
Start with the dough. I like to use my homemade pizza dough recipe from the HBH Super Simple cookbook. It’s the easiest to make and truly delicious. If you can think a few hours ahead of time, I’d recommend making your own dough. If not, store-bought pizza dough works great too (Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s both have great options)!
Once you have your dough figured out, it’s time to make pizza…and a spicy, lemony basil pesto too.
For the pesto, I used a mix of fresh basil and dill, but I often swap the fresh dill for mint, so use whichever you prefer. I like to add lots of lemon to my pesto, and for this pesto, a spicy jalapeño pepper too. Of course, if you don’t love spicy food, you can simply omit the jalapeño from the pesto.
If you’ve never made pesto before, it’s easy. You simply blend fresh herbs with parmesan cheese, olive oil, and a pinch of salt in either a blender or food processor. It’s easy and worth the extra five minutes’ time. That said, if you don’t have lots of fresh basil on hand, feel free to use your favorite store-bought pesto.
Once the pesto is made, roll out the pizza dough and layer on the toppings.
Spread on a heavy layer of pesto, add lots of shredded kale, crumbled goat cheese, and plenty of melty fontina cheese. Now…the next step is key. Cut the zucchini (or yellow summer squash) into ribbons using a vegetable peeler (or just thinly slice the zucchini into rounds). Getting the zucchini thinly sliced is key. It bakes up atop the pizza and turns almost “chip” like. It’s delicious and a fun way to switch up the average way you might cook with zucchini.
Once everything is layered onto the pizza dough, simply bake in a super hot oven. Ten or so minutes later dinner is done. You’ll have cheesy pizza with all the vegetables and your kitchen with smell pretty darn good too.
Finish with a large handful of fresh basil leaves, slice, and enjoy! Simple, yet perfect. A low-key dinner at home that feels fun and even a little fancy(ish) too.
So with that, what do you all think? Tuesday night pizza? Promise it’s going to be fun, and most importantly, so very GOOD.
Looking for other fun pizza night recipes? Some favorites of mine include…
Pesto Zucchini and Peach Pizza with Burrata
Herbed Butter Heirloom Tomato Pizza
Pepper and Cherry Tomato White Pizza
Garlic and Herb Roasted Cherry Tomato Pizza with Caramelized Onions
Lastly, if you make this garden greens goddess pizza, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Very nice recipes chef ???. I just made it for lunch delicious ?. Thank you for your effort ???
Hi Jasson,
Amazing!! I love to hear that this recipe was enjoyed, thanks so much for making it! Have a great weekend! xTieghan
Super good!!! I usually make the homemade dough from the cookbook but I was in a big rush so I just grabbed store bought pizza dough and it still turned out great. The pesto with the cheese and all the veggies is so good together. It’s very flavorful and guilt free (IMO).
Hey Kelly,
Awesome!! Thanks so much for your comment and making this recipe. So glad it hear it was enjoyed! xTieghan
My husband and I loved this recipe. This pesto was a delicious interesting version. We used dill, added in the jalapeno and used freshly-grated Parmegiano Reggiano. We made two approximately 10″ pizzas without doubling the topping quantities. The only change we made in the topping was using about 1/2 the amount of goat cheese, just enough to get a little tang in each bite, and about 1/3 cup of Italian fontina (2/3 cup total) on each pie. This recipe is saved forever in My Recipe Box.
Hey Susan,
Happy Sunday!! Thanks for giving the recipe a try and your comment, love to hear that it was enjoyed!! xTieghan
If I add the pesto and the cheese when I take it out of the oven there is so much oil. How do you prevent this?
Hey Linda,
Sorry I am not sure what you mean by adding the pesto and cheese after you take it out of the oven? I would recommend following the recipe as is, I hope this helps! xTieghan
Hello, Susan, I love your re-telling of the story of how Green Goddess dressing was invented. I remember it from my childhood, but honestly, I couldn’t have told you what is in it. Reading your recipe, I’m intrigued and hope to try it soon. Actually, I’ll try the blue cheese version, a spectacular variation as far as I’m concerned.Handcrafted Corten Products In Australia
Thanks Lisa!
I love this pizza! We’ve been making it since you released the recipe and it helped my boyfriend realize he likes kale. It’s so easy (especially because we use store bought pizza dough, pesto, and pre-chopped kale) and it’s always so delicious! Thank you!
Thank you so much Maggie! I am really glad this turned out so well for you! xTieghan
This is an amazing and easy recipe. Well maybe easier for me bc I used garlic naan instead of making pizza crust. The pesto is sooo good and would be awesome on so many things. Highly recommend and we will make this again.
Yum!! I am so glad this recipe turned out so well for you, Kara! Thank you for trying this! xTieghan
We made this tonight on our Green Egg. So delicious! Tastes like Summer!
I made this tonight on our Big Green Egg and it was amazing. Tastes like Summer!
Love that!! Thank you so much Ingrid! xTieghan
Oh my goodness…made this pizza a few nights ago and it was awesome. Everyone enjoyed it and I especially loved the choice of toppings. Great recipe, In fact, all your recipes that I have tried are just delicious!
Thank you so much Bev!! I am really glad this turned out so well for you! xTieghan
This recipe was DELICIOUS. Perfect for a summer day, with a zucchini fresh from my garden! Thank you for never disappointing!!
Thank you for continuing to try my recipes, Becs!! I hope you continue to love them! xTieghan
Hey trying this recipe for the first time, is this better with dill or mint?
Hi Thelma,
I think that is personal preference, I love both! I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
As always your recipes never fail! This was super delicious and perfect for the summer. I didn’t have any goat cheese at home so I used ricotta and snuck in a little bit of cream cheese. Baked it on a cauliflower crust and omg so beyond delicious. Can’t wait to make this again but with the suggested ingredients! Thank you for sharing.
Thank you so much Sara! I am really glad this turned out so well for you! I hope you continue to enjoy all of the recipes I create! xTieghan
I switched the basil with spinach and added some mushrooms and it tasted wonderful. Nice summer lunch to go with my chilling mojito.
Thank you for sharing!
Ooo yes love that! Thank you Nicole! xTieghan
This was a fantastic summery dinner! But I made two tweaks that I would highly recommend. First, I flipped the cheese ratio (about 3 oz goat cheese & 1 cup fontina) because we wanted more melty goodness. Second, I scattered roasted garlic cloves under the kale. I’ll definitely be making it again!
Thank you Margaret!! I am so happy to hear that! xTieghan