serves
6-8
prep
25 minutes
cook
25 minutes
difficulty
Easy
serves
6-8
people
preparation
25
minutes
cooking
25
minutes
difficulty
Easy
level
In discussing this particular pizza with Pizzaperta chef Gianluca, we discovered we had similar memories of zucchini (courgette) trifolati. Both our mothers prepared this dish in a similar way, though at different ends of the peninsula – Brescia and Naples.
Ingredients
- 1 sheet of Roman-style pizza dough (recipe )
- 350 g (12 oz) fior di latte mozzarella
- Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Zucchini trifolati
- 1 small onion, thinly sliced
- 500 g (1 lb 2 oz) zucchini (courgettes), cut into thin rounds
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tinned San Marzano whole peeled tomatoes, chopped
- 2 tbsp finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
- Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
For the zucchini trifolati
Fry the onion, zucchini and garlic in the olive oil for 2 minutes over a high heat, keeping them stirred so they don’t colour. Add the tomato and simmer for 15 minutes. Add the chopped parsley, season with salt and pepper and mix well. Leave to cool completely. Any left-over zucchini can be refrigerated for 3–4 days.
To assemble
Preheat the oven to 220°C (425°F). Place the cooked and cooled zucchini trifolati in a sieve to drain its liquid, saving some of the liquid. Remove the mozzarella from the water. Tear into small pieces and distribute half on top of the sheet of pizza. Scatter 400 g (14 oz) of the well-drained zucchini trifolati on the mozzarella. Distribute the rest of the torn mozzarella on the zucchini.
Finally, season with a little salt and freshly ground black pepper and drizzle with the olive oil. If the dough has risen excessively, press down gently with the tips of your fingers to make small indentations to make space for the mozzarella and zucchini. Bake in the oven for 25 minutes. If the teglia is browning more on one side, your oven is not even and the tray may need to be turned.
Once cooked, remove from oven and let cool a little. Place on a serving plate as a large piece or cut, using scissors, into individual tiles. Finish by drizzling with some of the zucchini trifolati juices that have been drained.
Recipe from New Pizza by Stefano Manfredi, Murdoch Books, hb, $39.99. Photography © Bree Hutchins.
Cook's Notes
Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.
In discussing this particular pizza with Pizzaperta chef Gianluca, we discovered we had similar memories of zucchini (courgette) trifolati. Both our mothers prepared this dish in a similar way, though at different ends of the peninsula – Brescia and Naples.
