Grilled Antipasto Pizza Recipe

A.J. Forget/Mashed

When the dog days of summer roll around and the air is still heavy and hot well into the evening, few things sound worse than turning on the oven. But then that desire for a pizza night comes around, and you have a tough decision to make — is it worth turning on that oven? Fortunately, while you might never have thought of making it on the grill, grilled pizza is actually a quick and easy way to prepare that old favorite without heating up the house. All you have to do is heat the grill, slap on the dough, flip it, top it, and pizza night is a go, regardless of the temperature that day.

As for how to top that pizza, well, why not stick to another summertime favorite, the antipasto platter? The collection of toppings in this grilled antipasto pizza recipe, brought to us by developer A.J. Forget, features cured meats, sliced cheeses, olives, and plenty of fresh and pickled vegetables — as well as a hefty splash of garlicky olive oil — making each bite delicious and unique. One second you're enjoying meaty salami and piquant pickled peppers, while the next may be all briny olives, sweet tomatoes, and fragrant basil. It is a true tour for the tastebuds, and hardly any more work to throw antipasti toppings on a grilled pizza than it is to arrange them on a platter.

A.J. Forget/Mashed

For this recipe you will need pizza dough, olive oil, garlic, provolone and mozzarella cheese, salami and pepperoni, and olives, pickled peppers, marinated artchokes, cherry tomatoes, and fresh basil. Once those ingredients are together, you are ready to get started.

A.J. Forget/Mashed

Stir together the minced garlic and olive oil in a small bowl.

A.J. Forget/Mashed

Start the grill and bring it to medium-high heat.

A.J. Forget/Mashed

Stretch one ball of dough and place it on the grill. Close the lid and cook for 4-5 minutes, or until nicely cooked on one side.

A.J. Forget/Mashed

Flip the dough and quickly top the pizza by spreading ¼ of the olive oil and garlic on the dough and then scattering ¼ of the cheeses, pepperoni, salami, olives, pickled peppers, artichokes, and cherry tomatoes.

A.J. Forget/Mashed

Close the lid and cook for 4-5 minutes, or until the dough is cooked and the cheese is lightly melted. Remove from heat and allow to cool for 2 minutes. Repeat the process with the remaining pizza dough, garlic olive oil spread, cheese, and toppings.

A.J. Forget/Mashed

Sprinkle over the basil, slice, and serve the pizzas.

A.J. Forget/Mashed

One of the best things about an antipasto platter is its customizability. The concept of an antipasto platter has come to refer to something similar to an Italian charcuterie board, one typically filled with the same sort of items you see on this pizza: cured meats, sliced cheeses, olives, fresh and pickled vegetables, and so on. And just as the antipasto platter is a culinary centerpiece ripe for customization, so too is this pizza.

In our recipe we have chosen some simple, easy to find favorites. For the cheeses, we opted for slices of mozzarella and provolone, both of which melt up nicely. But you could just as easily opt for fresh mozzarella or thin flakes of Parmesan. We chose salami and pepperoni to be the meaty stars of this pizza, but there are many types of meats that fit on a charcuterie or antipasto platter, and you can pick your favorites. Mortadella, speck, or capicola would be equally delicious options.

The same level of customization extends to the rest of the toppings as well. If you don't like spicy peppers, opt for sweet ones instead. Or trade out the olives for capers, if you want. It's tough to go wrong here, and while our topping list will deliver a truly delicious pizza, but we also won't be the least bit offended if you want to bend it a bit toward your personal favorites.

A.J. Forget/Mashed

If you've made pizza at home before, odds are you've done it in a standard household oven. The big difference switching to the grill is how heat is controlled. Ovens deliver steady heat from all sides, whereas on the grill there is a lot of direct heat coming from directly underneath. This means that grilled pizza cooks quickly, and primarily on the bottom, and a few things need to be altered from your traditional pizza recipes — namely the toppings.

With grilled pizza you will need to flip the dough. If you didn't flip it, you'd end up with a burned bottom and a raw top. But flipping the dough also means you can't top your pizza until halfway through, so your toppings don't cook for as long. Additionally, each time you open the grill, you let out all of the heat. Ovens hold heat in the walls and preserve this omnidirectional heating, but not so with the grill. This shorter cook time and loss of omnidirectional heat means that anything you toss on your pizza needs to be ready to go. One of the most common mistakes people make when grilling pizza is expecting to be able to brown mushrooms or heat thick layers of sauce and cheese. Antipasti items, on the other hand, are a perfect fit. Cured meats, sliced cheeses, and various pickled items add tons of flavor, lots of intrigue, and don't need much heat to bring out their best.