Seafood and Zucchini Pizza

Makes 2 pizzas

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon/15 ml olive oil
12 small Manila clams, scrubbed
1 shallot, finely diced
1 garlic clove, finely crushed
2 tablespoons/30 ml water
All purpose flour, for dusting
Two 8-ounce/230-g balls purchased pizza dough
Yellow cornmeal, for dusting
4 slices of zucchini — sliced very thin, lengthwise
2 baby squid tubes and tentacles — tubes cut crosswise into 1/3-inch-wide rings and tentacles cut in half 
3 extra large shrimp — peeled, deveined and cut in half lengthwise
2 jumbo sea scallops — small side mussel removed and each scallop cut horizontally into 3 slices
5 ounces/140 g fresh buffalo mozzarella cheese, grated
1/2 cup/130 ml Homemade Pizza Sauce (see recipe on page 1)

Method:

To preheat the baking stone and prepare the clams:

Place a large baking stone on the bottom shelf in the oven then preheat the oven to 450°F/230°C. Heating the baking stone well in advance will allow enough time for it to become very hot before baking the pizzas on it (Note that baking on a hot stone will help create a pizza with a crisp crust).

Heat the oil in a heavy medium saucepan over medium-high heat.  Add the clams, shallot and garlic. Stir in the water. Cover and allow the clams to steam for 5 minutes or until they begin to open.  Remove the saucepan from the heat. 

Uncover and set aside to cool, discarding any clams that do not open.  Remove the clam meat from the shells and reserve the clam meat. Discard the clam shells and liquid.

To assemble the pizza:

Lightly dust the work surface with flour and press 1 ball of dough on the work surface into a circle.  Continue to press the dough into a thin round disk that is about the same diameter of a dinner plate (about 8 1/2 inches/22 cm), being careful not to over-work the gluten in the flour by over-kneading it.

Once the pizza dough is formed, lightly dust the pizza paddle with flour or cornmeal and place the dough on the pizza paddle.  Spread 1/4 cup/65 ml of pizza sauce in a thin layer over the pizza dough, leaving a ½-inch border around the edge.

Lay 2 zucchini slices over the pizza.  Arrange half of the squid, shrimp, scallops and reserved clam meat over the pizza. Sprinkle with half of the cheese.  Immediately transfer the pizza from the paddle to the hot baking stone in the oven.  

Bake the pizza for 10 minutes or until the bottom is crisp and deep golden brown and the cheese has melted and become pale golden on top.  Using the pizza paddle, remove the pizza from the stone and transfer to a cutting board.  Repeat with the remaining ball of pizza dough, pizza sauce and toppings.

Cut each pizza into 4 to 6 slices and serve.  Turn the oven off, leaving the baking stone in the oven to cool slowly.