Sun-dried Tomato & Olive Courgette Pizza
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The perfect healthy alternative to pizza: switching the dough base for some reduced calorie/ low carb courgettes offers a light and summery switch to your classic pizza. This dish is perfect for people wanting a low calorie/ nutrient-dense meal or just something a bit lighter for lunch.
Table of Contents
Why this recipe works
It’s cheesy & saucy which makes the recipe still feel super indulgent. It includes antioxidant rich parsley and garlic along with some protein provided by the mozzarella.
Let the sweet passata balance out the salty capers and olives to provide a burst of flavour with eat bite. And who doesn’t love the addition of sun-dried tomatoes in any recipe?
The combination of toppings gives us tuscan flavour vibes, which brings these courgette boats to the next level. This recipe is quick and easy to prepare, making it the ideal quick bite when you refuse to spend time faffing around.
Here are some other pizza recipes for you to try; Crustless Pizza Bowl, Pizza Toast and Tortilla Wrap Pizza
Ingredients
Courgettes
The base for these pizzas is courgette, reducing the calories and adding lots of nutrients into the dish. If you prefer aubergine, feel free to substitute the courgettes with them. Here’s a link to an cheesy baked aubergine dish I created a while back.
Passata
The tomato base for these pizzas is brought together instantly with the combination of passata, onion powder, garlic powder, red pepper flakes and salt. If you only have chopped tomatoes, ensure that you cook them down to reduce the water content – this would cause your pizzas to be super soggy. For optimal results, blend the reduced chopped tomatoes for the perfect consistency.
Mozzarella
I opted for full fat mozzarella in this recipe as there is no need to reduce the calories further. The courgette bases are already super low in calories, so we have more of an allowance to spend on the cheese. This way we get all the nutrients and flavour that you get from full fat cheese over the low-fat alternatives.
Yum. If you love mozzarella, you also enjoy this Easy 10 Minute Naan Bread Pizza recipe.
Toppings
The toppings here are very mediterranean and summery. The capers and olives provide a briny, salty tang to contrast against the cheese and tomato sauce. Whilst the sun-dried tomatoes add a sweetness to compliment the other flavours. You’ll also find that when roasted in the oven the sun-dried tomatoes crisp up to form an almost bacon like flavour and texture, which is so so tasty.
If you’re into more of a spicy/pepperoni vibe, check out my other courgette pizza recipe here Spicy Pepperoni Courgette Pizza and this Sheet Pan Puttanesca Pizza.
How to make this recipe
- Place the courgette halves onto a baking tray. Remove the fleshy part of the courgette with a spoon to make hollows as this will also ensure the boats don’t go soggy and to also allow space to add the sauce (Image 1).
- Save time chopping by using onion granules instead of raw onions, the garlic granules instead of fresh garlic and if you like red pepper flakes add a sprinkle to the passata and then season with some salt and pepper (Image 2).
3. Spoon in the seasoned passata onto the courgette boats and make sure each boat is filled with the tomatoey sauce (Image 3).
4. Now to decorate your pizza boats! Start by adding the torn black olives, capers and torn sun-dried tomatoes (Image 4).
5. Before you add the mozzarella, squeeze all the water out and pat dry (the mozzarella retains a lot of liquid) and you want to make sure you have a nice crispy, cheesy topping (Image 5).
6. Add the remaining toppings before cooking in the oven for around 10-15 minutes or until the cheese is golden and crispy (Image 6).
Tips and Tricks
- Preheat your oven to ensure it is hot enough before roasting the courgettes/mozzarella. This will ensure you get that golden browned topping!
- Remove the inner courgette flesh to ensure enough room for the tomato sauce and toppings.
- Make sure you squeeze the mozzarella to release excess moisture, as you don’t want a soggy pizza.
- Prepare the toppings: Drain the capers and slice the black olives. You can add more of you favourite toppings like red onion, red peppers and parmesan shavings.
- Garnish with herbs, I used parsley but basil would work well too.
Other recipes you should try after this one: Viral Salmon Rice Bowl (Tiktok Recipe), Healthy Noodle Bowls (10 Minute Meal Prep) and Chicken Fajita Salad Bowl
How to meal prep this recipe
Follow all of the instructions to make all four portions. Be mindful when making the full batch that your oven might heat your sheet tray unevenly (like mine), so I rotated the tray midway to ensure even browning/crisping of the cheese across all 8 courgette boats.
Once cooled, the cheese will firm up. This will allow you to stack the courgettes on top of each other in your meal prep containers.
When it’s time to eat, add two courgette boats to a microwavable plate and heat for around 2 minutes on high. Consume within 4-5 days and enjoy! The perfect lunch/light dinner meal prep.
Other vegetarian meal prep recipes to try: Halloumi and Sweet Potato Tex-Mex Bowls, Miso Aubergines with Edamame Beans and Halloumi Tray Bake with Roasted Vegetables
FAQs
I wouldn’t freeze this recipe as the courgette will go quite mushy when defrosted. You can store them up to 4-5 days in the fridge though.
She sure is! No bread/classic base here which means it’s completely gluten free.
Yes, I’d recommend a vegan cheese that allows the desired ‘cheese-pull’ that you get with mozzarella. A vegan fave of mine is Violife.
You can eat it solo or pair it with a side salad. I think this recipe goes well with a handful of rocket to add a peppery contrast to the meal.
This will get rid of all of the excess moisture. Without doing this, a layer of water on top of the courgette boats will form in the oven, which will prevent the cheese from crisping up and turning golden brown. It will also cause a soggy pizza (=bad time).
If you tried this Sun-dried Tomato & Olive Courgette Pizza recipe, it would be mean so much to me if you could leave a review & a star rating to let me know how you found it! I love hearing about your experiences – it motivates me to keep creating more and more recipes for you guys 💛 Let’s get cooking! – Mimi x
Sun-dried Tomato & Olive Courgette Pizza
Ingredients
- 4 courgettes, sliced in half (£1.50)
- 500 g passata (£0.40)
- 50 g sundried tomatoes, thinly sliced (£1.90/2)=(£0.95)
- 30 g black olives, thinly sliced (£0.49)
- 3 tbsp capers (£1.25/2=(£0.62)
- 2 balls mozzarella, squeezed of excess liquid (£0.49x2)=(£0.98)
- Bunch of curly parsley, torn (£0.50)
Cupboard Essentials
- ½ tsp garlic granules
- ½ tsp onion granules
- Salt & Pepper
- Optional - red pepper flakes
Method
Preheat oven to 180°C
- Using a spoon, remove the fleshy part of the courgette which will form the hollow area for the filling to go in.
- In a mixing bowl, combine the passata with the garlic granules, onion granules, red pepper flakes (optional) and a pinch of salt and pepper.
- Place the courgette halves onto a baking tray and spoon the passata into the hollows.
- Add around half of the toppings onto the courgettes (the black olives, capers and sun-dried tomatoes), followed by the squeezed & torn mozzarella. Then, add the remaining toppings and pop in the oven for 10-15 minutes. Or until the cheese is golden and crispy. Serve with torn fresh parsley and enjoy!
Notes
- Preheat your oven to ensure it is hot enough for a golden brown topping when roasting the courgettes/mozzarella.
- Remove the inner courgette flesh to create space for the tomato sauce and prepare the additional toppings like drained capers, sliced black olives, red onion, red peppers, and parmesan shavings.
- Squeeze the mozzarella to release excess moisture and prevent a soggy pizza
- Garnish with herbs such as parsley or basil.
Nutrition
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