Grilled Garden Vegetables Pizza

Grilled pizza is a different animal from oven pizza. The dough goes directly on the grates, bubbles up, then flips once the bottom browns. Toppings come later, on the already-cooked crust, and the whole thing finishes over a cooler zone just until the mozzarella melts.

Fresh mozzarella, cherry tomatoes, red onion, garlic, black olives, and briny capers cover the base. Peppery baby arugula gets scattered on raw after the pizza comes off the grill, so it wilts from residual heat without turning into limp compost.

The grill does two things an oven can’t: it gives the crust a smoky char and it crisps the bottom in four minutes flat. No preheat, no pizza stone, no waiting around.

Pro Tips

• Keep a cooler zone on the grill ready, you’ll move the topped crust there so the bottom doesn’t burn while cheese melts
• Use tongs, not a spatula, to flip the dough, it’s easier to grip the edges
• Slice red onion paper-thin so it softens in the three minutes the cheese needs to melt
• Add arugula after pulling the pizza off the grill, never while it’s still over flames

Variations

• Swap arugula for basil leaves for a classic margherita lean
• Add thinly sliced prosciutto draped over the hot pizza right before the greens go on
• Trade black olives for pitted kalamatas for a sharper, brinier bite