You hear pizza, you think cheese that flows like roof tar; pepperoni slices cupping in the oven, filling with grease; and a crust so overladen with toppings it droops like sorrow when you try to lift a slice.

This pizza (along with the other five we designed for summer) is different. It is both elegant and summery, full of flavor from good-quality cheeses and produce—so flavorful, in fact, that you won’t even notice it’s vegetarian.

  • Yield: 2 pizzas
  • Difficulty: Easy
  • Total: 25 mins

Ingredients (8)

  • 1 (16-ounce) bag store-bought pizza dough
  • 1/4 cup basil pesto
  • Fresh mozzarella, sliced
  • Yellow and green summer squash, thinly sliced
  • Salt
  • Red onion, thinly sliced
  • Olive oil, for brushing the dough
  • 1/4 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 450°F.
  2. Divide the pizza dough into 2 balls and shape them into 1/4-inch-thick crusts.
  3. Spread the pesto on the crusts, add a layer of mozzarella, slices of squash, salt to taste, and onion slices.
  4. Bake until the crusts are crispy and golden brown, about 15 minutes.
  5. Brush the crusts with olive oil and sprinkle the pizzas with Parmigiano-Reggiano. Serve while hot.