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For a quick and easy vegetarian-friendly pizza that screams summertime, look no further than this Corn, Squash and Goat Cheese Pizza with Balsamic Glaze! With fresh toppings, and a foolproof homemade pizza dough (optional) you can’t go wrong on your next pizza night!

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Yum

Little known fact- I adore making homemade pizza. I’ve been making the same, easy homemade dough for years, and I love to whip up a fresh batch on a Friday afternoon. I let the dough do a double rise on the counter, and by dinner time, I’m ready to make some delicious pizzas!

I love to experiment with seasonal toppings and unique flavors to keep things interesting. For this pizza, which I make with peak summer/early fall produce, I use fresh yellow squash and corn, with loads of sweet garden basil. The flavors are amazing, and the pizza is great for my carnivorous and vegetarian friends alike. A win-win.

corn squash and goat cheese pizza

Making the homemade dough

You can certainly make this pizza with store bought dough to save time, and it will still be amazing! If you opt to make my dough recipe, it is very easy, and requires no special equipment.

The full details of the pizza dough recipe are below, but here are a few tips:

  • risen pizza dough
  • pizza dough on pan
  • Use quality, unbleached flour. I swear by King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour. I have used all different flours in the past with this recipe, and I always have mixed results or end up needing significantly more flour if I am using a bleached flour. The unbleached high quality stuff just reacts better with the yeast, for a fool-proof dough every time. 
  • Use warm, but not HOT water to proof the yeast. Not enough heat, not enough proofing. Too much heat, and you’ll kill that yeast before it has a chance to really live. A sad day. Use warm water- it should feel warm if you dip your finger in, but not hot. 
  • Always add honey (or sugar) when proofing the yeast. I love the flavor honey brings to the table- but basically, you need to get that years hungry and excited by feeding it a little sweet stuff. It helps it to proof easier, and it helps your dough rise above. Sugar makes for a happy dough. 
  • Prepare to your preference. If you love thin crust pizza, split this dough in half on the second rise. Love a thicker, more bread-y dough? Use the full recipe for 1 14” pizza. It’s up to your preference! 
squash corn pizza toppings

Fresh, summery toppings

To make this pizza, you will need:

  • 1 medium yellow squash cut into ribbons with vegetable peeler
  • 1 1/4 cup Italian blend shredded cheese, or shredded mozzarella.
  • 2 tsp minced garlic.
  • 5 oz of your favorite goat cheese.
  • 2/3 cup corn (fresh, or frozen thawed).
  • 1 tbsp olive oil (for brushing crust).
  • 1/2 cup fresh basil leaves.
  • 4-6 zucchini blossoms (optional).
  • Balsamic glaze, for drizzling over the hot and ready pizza.
closeup of squash corn pizza

The pizza assembly is super quick and easy. Just layer on the ingredients and bake! When making this pizza, I HIGHLY recommend preheating you oven and allowing it to stay at 500 degrees for a full 30 minutes prior to making the pizza. This will ensure your pizza cooks up quickly and evenly, and gets a nice, brown crust.

This will also improve the texture of your pizza- giving it a crusty, crunchy exterior and a soft, light and chewy interior.

closeup slice of garden veggie pizza

Want to give this recipe a try? 

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If you make my Corn, Squash and Goat Cheese Pizza, please be sure to leave me a comment! I would love to hear from you, and value your feedback! Lastly, if you make the recipe and love it, please tag me on Instagram! I love to see your photos!

Looking for more delicious recipes? Why not try my Tamale Pie Al Pastor, Shrimp Gumbo with Chicken Andouille Sausage, Ham, Bean and Bacon Soup with Dumplings, or Bacon Wrapped Meatloaf with Creamy Baked Bean Gravy?!

summer squash corn goat cheese and balsamic pizza
Print Recipe

Corn, Squash and Goat Cheese Pizza

Prep Time15 minutes
Cook Time15 minutes
Pizza dough2 hours 15 minutes
Total Time30 minutes
Course: Dinner
Keyword: balsamic, corn, goat cheese, pizza, squash
Servings: 4

Ingredients

  • 1 medium yellow squash cut into ribbons with vegetable peeler
  • 1 1/4 cups Italian blend shredded cheese*
  • 2 tsp minced garlic 
  • 5 oz honey flavored goat cheese*
  • 2/3 cup corn (fresh, or frozen thawed)
  • 1 tbsp  olive oil (for brushing crust)
  • 1/2 cup fresh basil leaves 
  • 4-6 zucchini blossoms (optional)
  • Balsamic glaze*
  • pizza dough of choice

Pizza Dough (makes 2 thin crusts or 1 thick crust 14” pizza) 

  • 1 cup warm water 
  • 1 tsp honey
  • 1 tsp active dry yeast 
  • 1 3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
  • Olive oil to coat dough and pan
  • Additional flour, for kneading 
  • Cornmeal, for dusting pan 

Instructions

  • If making the homemade dough
    1. Preparing the dough. In a 2 cup liquid measure or bowl, whisk honey, warm water and yeast to combine and let rest for 3 minutes to allow yeast to bloom. When ready, yeast should form a frothy top the surface.
    2. Add flour to a large bowl and mound it into a rounded pile. Using your fingers, make a small well in the center.
    3. Add the proofed yeast/liquid to the well little by little, combining with your hands as you go and forming new wells until a slightly sticky dough forms.
    4. Kneading. Once a dough comes together, knead the dough on a floured board by hand for 5 minutes until smooth, folding over as you knead to create air pockets.
    5. First rise. Oil a large clean, non-reactive bowl (a sturdy plastic bowl is great) with olive oil- being sure to spread the oil around with your hands to get the bowl well coated.
    6. Use your oiled hands to moisten dough on all sides, and place into the oiled bowl. Cover the bowl with a clean, dampened dish towel or tea towel and let rest on the counted for 1 hour.
    7. Second Rise. After 1 hour, gently punch the dough down, reshape into a ball and place back into oiled bowl for 1 more hour, covered with the damp towel. After.1 hour, the dough is ready to bake. If making thin crust pizza, split dough into 2 balls for the second rise. This recipe makes one pizza- so if only making 1, store additional dough in the refrigerator up to one week, or in the freezer up to 2 months.
    Baking and assembling the pizza
    1. When ready to bake, preheat your oven to 500 degrees. Leave oven on 500 degrees for 30 minutes to ensure it is HOT. This makes for an evenly cooked, well browned and consistent pizza.
    2. Coat a 14” pizza pan with olive oil, and lightly dust it with cornmeal.
    3. Remove dough from bowl after second rise and stretch or roll to desired size- I use a 14” pizza pan. You could also stretch the full dough recipe to fit a standard sheet pan, or free form a smaller, rustic style pizza on a sheet pan with 1/2 the dough for a thin crust.
    4. Brush the dough evenly with 1 tbsp oil, concentrating on the outer edges.
    5. Layer on an even coating of the Italian shredded cheese, leaving about a 1” gap on the outer edges.
    6. Layer the garlic evenly over the cheese.
    7. Using a vegetable peeler, shave ribbons of squash directly over pizza dough, adjusting as necessary to make an even layer.
    8. Layer the corn evenly over the squash ribbons.
    9. Layer on the squash blossoms. If using the squash blossoms, be sure to throughly clean them and remove the stamens.
    10. Lastly, layer the crumbed goat cheese evenly over the top.
    11. Transfer pan to the oven, and bake for 12-15 minutes, until cheese is melted and bubbly and curst is deep golden brown.
    12. Once pizza is baked, layer on the fresh basil leaves, and drizzle generously with balsamic glaze. Cut with a pizza cutter and serve.

*Notes/Substitutions:

Plain or herbed goat cheese can be subbed for honey flavored goat cheese.

I used store bought balsamic glaze. My fav is Roland.

© Jawns I Cooked. All images & content are the sole property of Jawns I Cooked. Please ask permission prior to using my photos. If you would like to share one of my recipes, please link back to this post and re-write the instructions in your own words.