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Hello, foodies...

Happy first day of August...I hope you're all taking advantage of your last few weeks of summer and soaking up the sun on those precious family vacations. As I mentioned before, our theme for this month focuses on pulling ingredients straight from your home garden and bringing them to your dinner table. And today, we've got a perfect recipe to go along with our garden-to-table theme. Our friend Christina is the blogging genius behind It’s a Keeper, and in her spare time, she's the field editor for Taste of Home magazine, a kitchen expert for GoodCook.com, and a guest contributor on her local ABC affiliate WNEP’s “Home and Backyard” program. WHEW!

Lucky for us, Christina was kind enough to share her summer go-to dish: Three Cheese Garden Veggie Pizza. This particular recipe is SO fresh and SO summer, and the whole family is sure to love it. Feel free to pick and choose the toppings...when I make this, I add BACON on top, but you already guessed that, didn't you!

Hi there! I’m Christina, from It’s a Keeper, a food and cooking blog where I test recipes to see if they’re (you guessed it…) keepers. David has graciously let me take over on his blog today and share one of my favorite garden-to-table recipes with you. 

Ahhh, August. The hurrah of summer. There are a few tell tale signs that August and, ultimately, the wind down of summer, is upon us – the nights are little cooler, the stores are filled with back to school supplies, and your neighbors, friends, and family are sharing the bounty that has burst forth from their gardens! 

The abundance of fresh produce this time of the year is incredible, whether from your garden, a friend’s garden, or the local farmers' market. Everything from beans, zucchini, tomatoes, blueberries, carrots, broccoli, peppers…I could go on and on. All of these bright colors and fresh flavors inspire me to get in the kitchen and make use of Mother Nature’s gifts. 

This pizza is one of my favorite ways to go from garden-to-table. The thin crust is crispy on the outside and soft and tender on the inside. The garlic-infused olive oil base is covered with crisp, fresh summer veggies and topped with a liberal layer of cheese – or three cheeses, rather. The great thing about this pizza is that you can swap any veggies or cheeses that you have on hand. It’s perfect for family-style entertaining or a special weeknight meal. This pizza is as fresh as it gets. 

It goes perfectly paired with my Fresh Tomato and Asparagus Salad. And, of course, my Perfect Blueberry Pie, makes the perfect summer dessert!

If you get a chance to try my Garden Veggie Pizza, I would love to hear how you liked it. Be sure to drop me a line and let me know what you thought – you can find me on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Pinterest.

Three Cheese Garden Veggie Pizza

Compliments of It’s a Keeper
www.itisakeeper.com

Ingredients:

1 ball of pizza dough or 1 (10-oz) package refrigerated pizza crust
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 garlic cloves, pressed
1/2 cup Cheddar cheese, shredded
1 medium zucchini, thinly sliced
1 medium tomato, thinly sliced
1 medium bell pepper, thinly sliced
1 cup broccoli florets
1 small onion, sliced
1 tsp dried Italian seasoning
1 cup Mozzarella cheese, shredded
1/4 cup fresh Parmesan cheese, grated

1. Preheat the oven to 400ºF. Place the pizza dough on a flat pizza stone. Shape the dough to fit the stone, and then brush on the olive oil.

2. Spread the garlic evenly over the crust and bake for 5-7 minutes, or until lightly browned. Remove the baked crust from the oven.

3. Evenly spread the Cheddar cheese on the crust and then layer on the zucchini, tomato, pepper, broccoli, and onion on top the Cheddar cheese.

4. Sprinkle the Italian seasoning over the vegetables. Next, top with the Mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses.

5. Bake for 15-18 minutes, or until the cheese is golden brown and bubbly. Cut the pizza into wedges and serve warm.

Many thanks, Christina. You've succeeded in making me incredibly hungry. How about you, foodies?

Keep it flavorful!
—David