Grilled Arugula Pizza with Sun Dried Tomatoes
on Jun 13, 2022, Updated Jul 08, 2022
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Peppery baby greens tossed in lemon juice are a fresh final topping for this sun dried tomato arugula pizza. Grill it or bake it in the oven.
Table of Contents
There are toppings you put on a pizza when it goes into the oven. And then there are others that are best when you add them to the finished pie. These include all things green like fresh basil and my personal favorite, arugula.
Those peppery leaves don’t quite take this arugula pizza with sun dried tomatoes into full salad pizza mode. They just layer in another something to the usual pizza components including crust, tomatoes and cheese.
For this pizza, I like to grill it. The simplest way to get restaurant quality crust at home is with the heat of the grill. Putting the dough right on the grates gives you grill marks and that nice smoky flavor.
Of course, if you don’t have a grill, you can bake this pizza in the oven.
Ingredients & Substitutions
This is what you need for the pizza toppings:
- Sun dried tomatoes from a jar are always handy to have in your pantry. Make sure to take the tomatoes out of the oil and then chop them. They shouldn’t be sitting in a pool of oil when you put them on the pizza. If you have tomatoes that you have roasted yourself, you can use those instead.
- Tomato sauce: It is up to you whether you use store-bought or homemade sauce. But the next time you do make sauce from scratch, consider freezing some of it in an amount that you can use for a pizza recipe.
- Garlic: You will be amazed how much garlic flavor you get on a pizza when you slice a clove very thin and include it with the other toppings.
- Cheese: Go for a shredded Italian cheese blend that includes such varieties as Parmesan cheese, mozzarella cheese, Romano and provolone.
- Arugula: Always use baby arugula for its tender leaves.
- Lemon juice: It’s important to use fresh lemon juice for the best taste.
- Salt & pepper: Along with lemon juice, I season the arugula with kosher salt and black pepper.
These are the pizza dough ingredients. You can use grocery store-bought dough for an easy shortcut.
- Flour: For a more interesting and chewy crust, I like a mix of bread flour and whole wheat flour in the dough.
- Yeast: Since the recipe calls for active dry yeast, you need to dissolve it in warm water.
- Sugar: A small amount of granulated sugar helps feed the yeast making the dough rise.
- Olive oil: There’s a little olive oil that’s also mixed in with the water, yeast and sugar.
- Water: The water should feel warm, but do not make it too hot or it will kill the yeast.
- Salt brings out the overall flavor of the crust.
Optional Additions
- Don’t hesitate to drizzle on herby pesto!
- If you aren’t a vegetarian, you can add prosciutto. I recommend doing this with the arugula, so you are putting it on the finished pizza.
How To Make This Arugula Pizza
- Make the dough. In a large bowl, combine the warm water, yeast, sugar and olive oil. Let it sit for 5 minutes. Once the mixture is foamy, stir in the bread flour, wheat flour and salt creating a shaggy dough. Then put it on a lightly floured work surface and knead it until smooth. You can also do this in a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook.
- Let the dough rise covered in an oiled bowl until it doubles in size. This will take about 2 hours.
- Preheat the grill. You can use a gas or charcoal grill on high heat.
- Roll out the dough into a 12-inch circle or oval. It doesn’t have to be a perfectly symmetrical shape.
- Grill the pizza crust for a few minutes on both sides. The crust should be sturdy enough that you can use tongs to flip it.
- Top the pizza. Spread on the tomato sauce. Top with sun dried tomatoes, sliced garlic and shredded cheese. After that, return the pizza to the grill for a few minutes to let the cheese melt.
- Toss the arugula with lemon juice, salt and pepper.
- Scatter the arugula across the pizza before serving.
No Grill? Make This Pizza In The Oven
If you don’t have a grill, you can make the pizza using a pizza stone. Just preheat the oven to 450 degrees F with the stone inside. Sprinkle the hot stone with cornmeal and carefully place the rolled-out dough on it. Add the all the toppings (except the arugula). Bake the pizza for 12-15 minutes, and then finish it with the arugula.
More Pizza Recipes
Grilled Mushroom Corn Pizza
Grandma Pizza
Roasted Vegetable Pizza
Grilled Pizza
Grilled Sundried Tomato and Arugula Pizza
Ingredients
- For dough
- 2/3 cup warm water
- 1/2 teaspoon dry active yeast
- 1/2 teaspoon granulated sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon olive oil plus more for bowl
- 1 cup bread flour plus more for work surface
- 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- For pizza
- 1 cup tomato sauce
- 1 cup chopped sun dried tomatoes from a jar oil drained
- 1 garlic clove thinly sliced
- 1 cup shredded Italian cheese blend
- 1 cup arugula
- Juice of 1 lemon
- Pinch of kosher salt and black pepper
Instructions
- For the dough, combine the water, yeast, sugar and olive oil in a large bowl. Let stand for 5 minutes until foamy. Stir both flours and salt into the yeast mixture until it forms a shaggy dough. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and knead for 10 minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic. (Alternatively, the dough can be mixed in the bowl of a stand mixer using a dough hook.)
- Gather the dough into a ball, transfer to an oiled bowl and cover. Place the bowl in a warm spot to allow the dough to rise until it has doubled in size, about 2 hours.
- Preheat a gas or charcoal grill on high heat.
- On a lightly floured work surface, roll out the dough into a 12-inch diameter circle. Place the dough directly on the grates and grill for 3 minutes with the lid closed until the crust has grill marks and has puffed up. Turn over the crust and grill for an additional 2 minutes.
- Spread the tomato sauce on the pizza leaving a 1-inch border at the edge. Scatter on the chopped sun dried tomatoes and sliced garlic. Sprinkle with cheese.
- Continue grilling until the cheese has melted, about 2-3 minutes.
- Toss the arugula with lemon juice, salt and pepper. Top the pizza with arugula before serving.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
