Grilled Pizza, served with Arugula Pesto, Corn, & Ham

Recipe Review

What stands out: This pizza with arugula pesto is basically summer on a evenly grilled pizza. It’s sweet, salty, tangy, chewy, crunchy, subtly spicy (thanks, arugula!), and topped with creamy cheese.

How long it takes: 20 minutes to prep, 10 minutes to grill
Equipment you’ll need: grill, pizza peel or large rimless baking sheet
Servings: 4

Grilled Pizzas

First, a story. Grilling pizza can be tough. You fire up the grill. Then you take your carefully prepared pizza dough, stretch it into a evenly-round circle (or something not even resembling a circle), and place it on a tray to bring outside.

Now all you have to do is transfer that sticky, stretchy, pizza dough onto the grill. We confess, this did not go well for us the first time. We ended up with a lump of tangled up dough not even resembling anything close to a pizza. It looked more like a funnel cake, if we’re being honest. We grilled it for a little longer just for fun and then pulled it off and snacked on it. Back to the drawing board.

We found that a pizza peel comes in handy for this recipe. A baking sheet that doesn’t have a rim, or a large cutting board are good substitutes for a pizza peel. A pizza stone works well, too. (Check out the video towards the end of this post to see one in use!).

Grilled Pizza with Arugula Pesto

From-scratch pesto. The from-scratch arugula pesto gives it a major head-start into rich town. It’s subtly spicy, bright from lemon, and packs a small punch of garlic. It’s a great flavor base for this summery pizza. Of course, you can always substitute basil pesto, either from-scratch or store-bought.

Creamy ricotta. After the pesto, the crust is topped with dollops of creamy ricotta. This is a departure from the more typical pizza cheese, mozzarella. The cheese adds saltiness and also makes this pizza filling and satisfying.

In season corn. Beautiful fresh sweet corn, cut from the cob, gives this pizza a summery feel, with beautiful sweetness and gentle crunch. There’s nothing quite like fresh corn in the summer.

A standby toppings. To complement the sweet corn, we like to add thinly sliced red onions which add gorgeous color and their signature flavor. The final touch is salty ham (but prosciutto or crisp bacon or pancetta are fantastic, too). A sprinkle of freshly grated Parmesan brings everything together.

Outdoor cooking. Grilling the pizza is an advantage especially in the summer when you don’t care to heat up your kitchen with a hot oven. Enjoy grilled pizza with arugula, accompanied by a cold drink, maybe a vodka lemonade or white wine spritzer!

Grilled Pizza Party!

Love the idea of grilling pizza? Once you get the hang of it, throw a pizza grilling party! It’s a fun idea for people to get creative with their food and they bake fast. You can even make smaller individual pizzas. Guests can stretch out their own dough, add their toppings, and all that’s left to do is grill it! Here are ideas for a toppings bar:

• Arugula pesto
• Basil pesto
• Pizza sauce
• Chimichurri sauce

• Ham
• Onions
• Corn
• Tomatoes
• Sautéed or roasted mushrooms
• Asparagus
• Pepperoni
• Bacon
• Prosciutto
• Artichoke hearts
• Spinach
• Broccoli

• Ricotta
• Parmesan
• Fresh mozzarella
• Shredded mozzarella
• Cheddar
• Burrata
• Brie
• Fontina
• The sky is the limit!

PS: Extra arugula? Try a classic arugula salad.

Free Meal Plan

Interested in a weekly meal plan that includes this recipe? Take a look at Meal Plan #76. You’ll find a wholesome recipe for each weekday plus a categorized grocery list. We add a new meal plan weekly.

Browse Meal Plans

• Yield: 4
• Prep: 20 minutes
• Cook: 10 minutes
• Total: 30 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 pound pizza dough (at room temperature if using a refrigerated dough)
• 2 tablespoons corn meal (or flour)
• oil for grill grates
• ½ cup arugula pesto
• ½ cup part-skim ricotta cheese
• ½ cup diced deli ham
• ¾ cup fresh corn kernels (cut from 1 large cob)
• ¼ cup thinly sliced red onion
• ¼ cup shredded Parmesan cheese

Method

1. Preheat grill to medium heat (350°-400° F).
2. Flour pizza dough lightly and stretch or roll pizza to about ½ inch thickness (14 to 16 inch diameter). It doesn't have to be perfectly shaped.
3. Sprinkle cornmeal or flour on a large unrimmed baking sheet or pizza peel. Transfer the pizza dough to the baking sheet or peel.
4. Brush grill grate to clean it and oil it with an oil soaked paper towel and tongs (alternatively, you may use a pizza stone placed on top of the grill). Slide the dough off the baking sheet or peel onto the grill and cover and cook until it is bubbling on top and golden brown on the bottom, 2 to 3 minutes.
5. Carefully flip the dough over using the peel or tongs and baking sheet. If desired, pull it off the grill while you add toppings. Spread the pesto over the dough. Top with small dollops of ricotta, and the rest of the toppings.
6. Return the pizza to the grill if you took it off. Cover the grill and cook the pizza until the toppings are heated through and the bottom of the crust is crispy, 5 to 7 minutes.
7. Remove from grill, slice into 8 triangles, and serve immediately.

Notes

Pro tip: Be sure to have all your toppings ready before you begin grilling.

Pesto: Basil pesto or another type of pizza sauce can be substituted for arugula pesto, if you prefer.

Bake it in the oven: The pizza can be baked in the oven if you don’t feel like grilling. Preheat oven to 450°F with rack in lower third of oven. Place pizza on an oiled baking sheet. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until golden brown. Baking time depends on how many toppings you load on.