Saturday night when I smoked turkey legs, I also threw an array of veggies on the grill to use in recipes throughout the upcoming week. For this pizza, I used leftover grilled zucchini and red bell pepper. The smokey char of the veggies, the soft, sweet fresh mozzarella and the herbaceous crunch of the pine nuts was a mouthful of yum with each and every bite. And since I was utilizing leftovers, prep took me less than 10 minutes. If you’re in the mood for a quick and easy Meatless Monday pizza night, I highly recommend this recipe.

Grilled Veggie Pizza

Ingredients: 

1 fresh Pizza Dough of choice

1 leftover grilled Zucchini, chopped

1 leftover grilled Red Bell Pepper, stem, seeds, and charred skin removed then julienned

1 lg ball fresh Mozzarella, torn into bite size chunks

1/4 cup toasted Pine Nuts

1 tsp dried Herbs of choice, such as Italian Mix or Rosemary

2 tbsp EVOO, optional

about 1/4 cup AP Flour, plus more as needed

2 tbsp Coarse Cornmeal, optional

1/4 tsp Red Pepper flakes, optional

Pizza Sauce of choice, amount desired

Cracked Black Pepper to taste

Method: 

Preheat oven to 475 degrees. Place a cast iron pizza skillet in the preheated oven and heat the skillet until hot, about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, on a silicone baking mat spread a bit of flour about and then roll out the pizza dough, using more flour as needed to keep it from sticking, until the dough is as large as the pizza skillet.

Carefully remove the pizza skillet from the oven and sprinkle on about 2 tbsp of Coarse Cornmeal before placing the rolled out dough on top of the skillet. Fold any excess dough over to form a crust around the edge of the pizza. Place the dough in the oven and flash bake it 10 – 15 minutes, until the crust just begins to crisp up. If desired, brush a bit of EVOO around the dough and sprinkle the edges of the crust with a bit of Kosher Salt.

To assemble the pizza, spread a generous amount of pizza sauce around the dough, using less sauce, if desired. Top the sauce with the fresh mozzarella, grilled veggies, pine nuts, and dried herbs. Place the pizza in the oven and bake 15 – 25 minutes, until the cheese is golden and bubbly, or until desired doneness is reached.

Remove the pizza from the oven and allow  to rest 5 – 10 minutes before slicing. Crack a generous amount of black pepper on the pizza and then serve immediately.