Why not transform your favorite vegetarian antipasto platter into a pizza? This recipe is easy to make and full of Italian flavor, featuring marinated artichokes, green olives, and sun-dried tomatoes.
About Antipasto Pizza
In Italian, antipasto means "before the meal." It's a colorful, flavorful presentation of preserved meats and vegetables that complement the main course of celebration meals. Traditional antipasti were reserved for special occasions and seen as a way to showcase and share homemade canned/jarred vegetables, aged cheeses, and cured meats. However, now that you can get all the components at your local grocery store, it's easy to make an antipasto platter (or pizza) any day of the week.
Nope! Antipasto is all about mixing and matching. For example, use black olives instead of green, swap out the sun-dried tomatoes for roasted red peppers or stuffed cherry peppers, and/or skip the artichokes. You can also experiment with different cheeses, and you can use pesto sauce instead of marinara.
Yep! Cured meats like prosciutto, salami, and pepperoni are common in antipasto platters. So, if you're not following a vegetarian diet, feel free to slice up your favorite smoked or cured meats and add them to the pizza with the other toppings.
Ingredient Tips
- Quality matters. You're probably sick of me saying this, but since there are only a few main ingredients on this pizza, the flavor of each component matters. So, consider this your excuse to splurge on the good stuff. Instead of shopping in the canned beans aisle for everything, head over to the Italian/international section of your grocery store. There's a big difference between marinated artichokes and the kind that are canned in brine. Likewise, imported jarred Italian olives are waaaaaaay more flavorful than their canned counterparts. You get the picture.
- If you can, make your own sauce. My no-cook marinara sauce couldn't be easier to make, and its fresh, bright flavor is the perfect base for briny, tangy preserved veggies.
- Trust me on the two-cheese thing. While fresh mozzarella adds creaminess, texture contrast, and a touch of sweetness, that sprinkling of parm adds just the right amount of nutty-salty flavor.
Looking for more recipes like antipasto pizza? Here are a few more I think you'll love:
- Margherita Pizza
- Pizza alla Puttanesca
- Gorgonzola-Fennel Pizza with Prosciutto
- Genoa Salami Pizza with Bell Pepper, Fennel, and Green Olives
- Sicilian Tuna Fish Pizza
Vegetarian Antipasto Pizza
Equipment
- Cutting board and knife
- Rolling pin (optional)
- Large rimmed baking sheet or baking stone/steel
- Pizza peel (optional)
Ingredients
- 1 (14- to 16-ounce) ball pizza dough
- ⅔ to ¾ cup super-easy marinara sauce (or your favorite pizza sauce)
- ½ cup sliced green olives
- ½ cup quartered and marinated artichokes, drained and chopped
- ¼ cup sundried tomatoes packed in oil, drained and thinly sliced
- 4 ounces fresh mozzarella, cut into ½-inch cubes
- ¼ cup finely shredded or grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
- Extra-virgin olive oil
- Freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 500°F (if using a baking sheet) or as high as it will go (if using a baking stone/steel; place the stone/steel in the bottom third of the oven before you start preheating). Let the oven preheat for at least 30 minutes. Then, if you’re using a baking stone or steel, switch the oven to Broil on high.
- Stretch or roll out your dough to a 12- to 14-inch circle, then transfer it to a baking sheet / pizza pan or a lightly floured pizza peel (if using a baking stone/steel).
- Spoon the sauce onto the dough and spread it out evenly, leaving a ½-inch border all around. Scatter on the chopped artichokes and sliced olives and sundried tomatoes. Top with the mozzarella and Parmigiano-Reggiano cheeses.
- Transfer the pizza to the oven and bake until the crust is golden and the cheese has browned in spots—8 to 10 minutes on the baking sheet, 6 to 8 minutes on the baking stone/steel.
- Remove the pizza from the oven. Drizzle it lightly with olive oil and season with a few grinds of black pepper. Let the pizza cool for a few minutes before slicing and serving.
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