Whenever I talk about making pizza at home, what I’m really talking about are the toppings for the pizza. Because we’re into the beginning of summer, I thought I check out what was in season at my local farmers’ market. Boy was I surprised! There was so much to choose from that I thought I get a little of everything.

These pizzas are great if you’re leading a vegetarian lifestyle. I will post this under both categories, “pizza dishes” and “vegetarian dishes”. Oh yeah, I’ve got a great to prepare the toppings.

Making your own pizza dough is fun but because this post is going to concentrate on the toppings. I’m taking help from my local grocery store and buying the pre-made pizza dough. You can also go to your local pizzeria to buy your dough.

Let’s get started on my Rustic-Style Grilled Pizzas.

Prep Time: 30 minutes
Inactive Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 30 to 60 minutes
(each of the veggies takes a different roasting time. The roasting order starts with onions and fennel, next, the bell peppers, garlic, and finally, the beets.)
Grilling Time: 2 to 4 minutes per side
Total Time:  2 hours 8 minutes
Yields:  4 pizzas
Equipment: 2 rimmed baking sheet pans, indoor grill pan, 2 large mixing bowls, rolling pin, 1 small mixing bowl, 2 pair of disposable gloves, chef’s knife

Complete List Of Ingredients:
1 ball of store-bought pizza dough
2 (4-ounce) balls of fresh mozzarella cheese
1 (4 ounce) package of fresh goat cheese
6 slices of Prosciutto, thin julienned strips (optional)
4 heirloom tomatoes, cut into wedges
1 sweet onion, roasted
2 bulbs of fennel cleaned, cored, and roasted
3 red beets, roasted and diced
3 golden beets, roasted and diced
1 red bell pepper, roasted and julienned
1 yellow bell pepper, roasted and julienned
2 bulbs of garlic, roasted
3 tablespoons of basil leaves, roughly chopped
2 tablespoons of Italian flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped
1 package of store-bought pre-washed Spring Mix

Ingredients From The Pantry:
All-purpose flour
Olive oil
*E.V.O.O.
Kosher salt
Black pepper, freshly ground
Red wine vinegar
granulated sugar

Ingredients For Heirloom Tomato Topping:
4 heirloom tomatoes, cut into wedges
1 teaspoon of granulated sugar
1 tablespoon of Kosher salt
1 teaspoon of black pepper
2 tablespoons of chopped fresh basil leaves
1 tablespoon of red wine vinegar
1/4 cup of *E.V.O.O.

Directions For Heirloom Tomato Topping:
Add all the ingredients to a large mixing bowl, toss to combine. Set aside.

Ingredients For Roasted Fennel And Onions:
1 large sweet onion quartered
2 bulbs of fennel cored and quartered
1 tablespoon of Kosher salt
1 teaspoon of fresh ground black pepper
1/4 cup of olive oil

Note: The fennel and onions will roast on the same rimmed baking sheet pan. The garlic, bell peppers, and beets will roast on the second baking sheet.

Note: Watch the roasting times for each vegetable.

Directions For Roasted Fennel:
Preheat oven to 425-degrees F.
Place the fennel and onions onto a rimmed sheet pan, spread out into one even layer. Drizzle with olive oil, salt, and pepper, toss to coat. Roast for 30 to 35 minutes. Transfer to a large mixing bowl set aside.

Note: The bell peppers, beets, and garlic bell peppers will roast on the same baking sheet pan.

Ingredients For Roasted garlic:
2 bulbs of garlic, cut in half crosswise
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons of olive oil
1 teaspoon of Kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper

Directions For Roasted Garlic:
Preheat oven to 425-degrees F.
Place the halved garlic bulbs into a large piece of aluminum foil. Drizzle with 2 tablespoons of olive oil over the tops of each half. Sprinkle with Kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper. Wrap the garlic up tightly in the foil, transfer to a baking sheet pan. Roast for 40 minutes. Once cool enough to handle, squeeze the garlic cloves out of their skins into a small bowl. Add 1/2 cup of E.V.O.O. using a fork smash the garlic into a paste.

Ingredients For Roasted Bell Peppers:
1 yellow bell pepper, washed and dried
1 red bell pepper, washed and dried

Directions For Roasted Bell Peppers;
Preheat oven to 425-degrees F.
Wrap each bell pepper in foil, Place onto a baking sheet pan along with the garlic. Roast for 30 to 35 minutes. Unwrap the peppers, transfer to a large mixing bowl. cover tightly with plastic wrap. Allow to steam for 10 minutes. Remove the skins, seed, and slice into julienne strips. Transfer to a large mixing bowl. Set aside.

Ingredients For Roasted Beets:
2 red beets, washed and dried, cut off the tops and bottoms, cut in half
2 golden beets, washed and dried, cut off the tops and bottoms, cut in half
2 tablespoons of Kosher salt, divided
2 teaspoons of freshly ground black pepper, divided
1/2 cup of olive oil
2 tablespoons of *E.V.O.O., divided
2 tablespoons of Italian flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
1 tablespoon of fresh basil leaves, roughly chopped
2 tablespoons of red wine vinegar

Directions For Roasted Beets:
Preheat oven to 425-degrees F.
Layout two large pieces of aluminum foil. Place the red beets on one piece of foil and the golden beets on another. Add the olive oil, Kosher salt, and fresh ground black pepper to each pair of beets. Wrap both the red and golden beets tightly in the foil, transfer to the baking sheet pan containing the wrapped garlic and bell peppers. Cook for 1 hour (60 minutes) or until a knife can be inserted with no resistance. Once completely cooled, using disposable gloves, remove the skins, dice, and transfer to a large mixing bowl. Add chopped basil, Italian parsley, 2 tablespoons of *E.V.O.O., and red wine vinegar. Toss to combine set aside.

Directions For Store-Bought Pizza Dough:
Allow the dough rest at room temperature for 1 hour. Cut the dough ball into four equal parts. Next, dust a flat surface with all-purpose flour. Roll the dough out to around 6 to 8-inches in diameter. They don’t have to be perfectly round, that’s what gives them that rustic look.

Preheat an indoor grill pan over medium-high heat. Brush two of the pizza doughs with olive oil then place onto the grill pan, oiled side down. Brush the tops with olive oil. Grill for 2 to 4 minutes per side.

Preheat oven to 425-degrees F.
Arrange the four grilled pizzas (2 grilled pizzas on each pan) onto 2 rimmed baking sheet pans. Next, brush the tops of each of the pizzas with roasted garlic. Evenly distribute torn fresh mozzarella over each one. the pizzas. Transfer the baking sheet pans to the oven leaving the door slightly ajar. This process only takes a couple of minutes.

Once the cheese melts, pull the pizzas out and start arranging the toppings. I made different combinations of flavors for each of the four pizzas. For the base of all of the pizzas, I added the roasted onions and fennel over top of the melted mozzarella. Two of them I saved for the heirloom tomatoes and prosciutto, one for the roasted peppers, and the last one for the roasted golden and red beets topped with crumbled goat cheese.

To serve the pizzas I added mixed greens, which included baby spinach, Swiss chard, and baby kale. For the heirloom tomato pizzas, I arranged the greens underneath the tomatoes because I wanted the colors to show through. Then I topped with the sliced prosciutto.

For the roasted peppers and beets, I placed the greens on top with a sprinkling of Kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper.

You could make your Rustic-Style Grilled Pizzas with whatever ingredients you like. These are just a few ideas you may want to play around with when you’re making your favorite pizza.

There you have it, my Rustic-Style Grilled Pizzas.

*E.V.O.O. is an acronym for Extra Virgin Olive Oil.

https://lindalouhamel.com/2019/07/10/summer-time-flowers-and-herbs/