With the arrival of summer comes the zucchini. Every year I have way more zucchini then a family could possibly eat. This problem is magnified by “friends” who try to solve their zucchini problem by sharing it with others. Barbara Kingsolver has a funny chapter in her book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle in which she recounts her losing battle against the overabundant zucchini. She might have won if she was only dealing with her own zucchini, but neighbors were kindly dropping more off at her house while she was away.

She writes, ” It’s a relaxed atmosphere in our little town, plus our neighbors keep an eye out…. So the family was a bit surprised when I started double-checking the security of doors and gates any time we all were about to leave the premises. ’Do I have to explain the obvious?’ I asked impatiently. ’Somebody might break in and put zucchini in our house.’”

Despite the inevitable zucchini fatigue, there is no greater pleasure for me than zucchini flowers. Battered and fried, they are such a treat. As I was stealing the male flowers (the ones not attached to a zucchini) from the plants at my daughter’s preschool garden, I had a vision of fried zucchini flower pizza. It is delicious and you can even get rid of a few zucchini by grating them and hiding them under the cheese and putting them in the sauce.

Fried zucchini flower pizza

6 zucchini flowers

1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup club soda or seltzer water

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup red sauce (whatever you like. Make your own tomato sauce or used jarred pizza sauce)

1 small zucchini, grated or chopped

1 cup mozzarella cheese, grated

2 tablespoons small basil leaves

salt and pepper to taste

Remove the pistils from the flowers by breaking off the ends and pulling them out. Rinse and set aside to dry.

Make batter by whisking together flour, salt and club soda in a bowl. Dip flowers in batter and remove any extra batter by scrapping along the side of the bowl. Fry in olive oil over medium high heat until golden brown on both sides. The recipe calls for 6 flowers, but there is plenty of batter if you want to do a few more to eat while the pizza cooks!

(You may also use a yeast batter to fry the flowers. Check out this recipe and this one from the cook (almost) anything at least once blog.)

Roll out the pizza dough and lightly brush the rim with olive oil. Spread out sauce, zucchini and then cheese. Arrange the flowers on top.

Bake on the bottom rack of a 500 degree oven for 8-10 minutes, until crust is slightly brown. Remove from oven. Add the basil leaves, cut and serve. Enjoy!

Cherries! Boy, do I have cherries. I got six pounds of cherries for Mother’s Day and I have been getting cherries in my CSA box every week. That is a lot of cherries. What do you do with that many cherries?

We ate what we could, but then I made cherry ice cream, a cherry pie and put some on pizza. I became inspired when I opened my morning paper and found some great cherry recipe ideas by Lesley Stiles. I slightly modified her recipe for cherry arugula salad and put it on a pizza. The salty cheese and the sweet salad make an amazing combination.

Cherry and arugula salad pizza

1 large red onion

1 cup gruyere cheese, grated

1/4 cup cherries, pitted and quartered

1/8 cup toasted walnuts, chopped

1/2 tablespoon chevre, crumbled

2 cups arugula

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/2 tablespoon rice vinegar

squeeze of fresh lemon juice

salt and pepper

Chop the red onion into slices and saute over low heat until caramelized for 15-20 minutes.

While onion is sauteing, prepare the salad dressing. Combine olive oil, rice vinegar, lemon juice and salt and pepper in a glass jar. Shake well.

Roll out pizza dough and brush bottom with a generous amount of olive oil. Top with red onions and gruyere cheese and bake on the bottom rack of a 500 degree oven for 7-10 minutes.

While pizza is baking toss the salad. Combine arugula, cherries, walnuts and chevre. Salt and pepper to taste. Toss will salad dressing.

When the pizza comes out of the oven, spread the arugula salad over the top. Slice and serve. The salad will not keep well so leftovers for lunch doesn’t work well with this pizza. But, it is so good, I doubt you will have leftovers.

You know how sometimes you see an ingredient that is new to you and then suddenly it starts turning up all over the place? Well, I have been introduced to sorrel.  I have seen it included in a lot of recipes lately like this one from Martha Stewart Living. I didn’t give it much thought until I was at a family member’s house for Easter dinner. While getting a tour of their garden, I spotted sorrel.

Sorrel is sour but at the same time has a very fresh taste. I see why it is popping up in spring recipes all over. So, I brought a bunch home, along with some eggs from their chickens, and I decided to do a spring herb pizza with an egg on top.

For this recipe, I used a combination of sorrel and herbs growing in my tiny garden. I combined the herbs with a yummy goat cheese (Capricho di Cabra),some mozzarella and fresh lemon. The result was a deliciously springy pizza that would go great with a spring mix salad and maybe even a glass of wine if you are so inclined.

Spring Herb Pizza With Egg

Spring herbs chopped to total 1/2 cup (I used sorrel, chives, dill, parsley and thyme)

1/4 tsp lemon zest

1/2 cup crumbled goat cheese

1/2 cup grated mozzarella cheese (if you like more cheese, add 3/4 cup)

1-2 eggs

olive oil

salt and pepper

Roughly chop the herbs and set aside.

Crumble goat cheese and mix with lemon zest then set aside.

Roll out pizza dough dough and brush bottom with a generous amount of olive oil. Then spread out mozzarella cheese. Next add goat cheese. Top with about half of the herb mixture. Salt and pepper to taste.

Bake on the bottom rack of a 500 degree oven for 7-8 minutes. Crack egg(s) on top and cook for 2-3 more minutes.

Remove from the oven and sprinkle remaining herbs and squeeze a little fresh lemon juice on top. Happy Spring!