These Gorgeous Pizzas Are the Best Way to Use Up Your Farmers’ Market Haul

Pizza thrives on heat—lots of scorching heat to get that crust to spring into bubbly, blistered shape, to melt cheese, and to perform the too-many-to-count alchemical tasks required to turn a disk of dough into basically the best food there is. Which is why the grill is a pizza’s best friend: It generates way more heat than most home ovens can, getting you closer to the fiery conditions created by a proper pizzeria’s deck oven. We like to take it one step further by placing a ceramic pizza stone on our grill, letting it get wicked hot, and using that as the platform for our smoky backyard pies. It harnesses and evens out all that obscene heat, kind of like the floor of a pro pizza oven, meaning you can throw down your dough, top it, close the lid, and let the combo of direct and ambient heat work its magic, no flipping required. Don’t get us wrong, we’ll never say no to grill-marked pizzas cooked right on the grates (keep reading for our pre-stone age method). However you do it, the deck is stacked for success: The sun is shining, you’ve got a bounty of summer produce at your fingertips, and there’s ice-cold beer in the cooler. Happy summer.

Great grilled pizza is an art, not a science. Our method is really simple but, you know, everyone’s rig is different, which means it might take a little trial and error before you start cranking out picture-perfect pies for a crowd.

We like using a gas grill for this (I know, right? We never say that!) The even heat eliminates a huge variable. Place a pizza stone on the grates and set the burners beneath to medium-high. Allow the grill to heat, covered, with the stone inside. When the grill is super hot—a thermometer should register around 500°, about 10 minutes—remove the lid, place an 8-oz. ball of dough stretched to a 12"–14" oval on the stone, add your toppings, and brush the crust with a little olive oil. Replace the cover with vents open and cook until underside of crust is browned and cheese is bubbling, 7–9 minutes. Using a couple of large metal spatulas, transfer the pizza to a platter or board. Let cool for a few minutes, slice, and watch everyone freak out.

The setup is a little different, but the method is the same. Once you get one chimney’s worth of charcoal hot, spread the coals in a ring around the perimeter of the grill and set the grate on top. When the coals are glowing but no longer flaming, place the stone on the grate, cover, and preheat—20 minutes should get you to around 500°. Then proceed as described at left. One chimney should be enough for two or three pies.

You don’t need a pizza stone to grill pizza this summer. Just follow our lead.

1. Prepare grill for medium-high, indirect heat (for a charcoal grill, bank coals on one side of grill; for a gas grill, leave one or two burners off).

2. Place an 8-oz. ball of pizza dough that’s been stretched to a 12"–14" oval over direct heat just long enough to create grill marks and stiffen the dough (so it releases cleanly), about 45 seconds.

3. Flip the dough over direct heat and cook 45 seconds. Slide to cooler part of grill and top. Cover the grill and cook, rotating pizza once, until crust is browned and cheese is melted, 7–9 minutes.

Honestly, we usually start with premade dough from the supermarket or the neighborhood pizzeria—#summer. An 8-oz. ball will make a 12"–14" round, which is the max most stones can handle. Let it sit at room temp until it’s pliable—a half hour to an hour—before stretching it on a well-floured surface.

For summer pies we use a dead-simple passata—what the Italians call whole canned tomatoes that have been crushed by hand or with a food mill, thinned with a bit of their juices, and seasoned with salt. Apply the sauce sparingly; it should look like not enough, otherwise your pie will go soggy. One 28-oz. can is enough for four pies.

We like to double up, combining something mild and melty—think torn mozzarella, Fontina, or ricotta—with a hard cheese like Parmesan or aged provolone. What is true of all toppings is especially true here: Restraint is key. “Extra cheese” may sound cool, but it’s a good way to turn the middle of your pie into fondue soup.

If we wouldn’t eat it out of hand, we won’t put it on a pizza. That means that meats like hot Italian sausage should be browned, tough greens need to be wilted, and crisp veggies like fennel should be thinly sliced before they’re used as toppings. And remember: restraint! Less is more.

A final touch separates a ho-hum pie from a restaurant-worthy one. The heat of the grill can take the wind out of the freshest toppings’ sails, so we add something bright—a flurry of fresh herbs, chiles, or a drizzle of honey or grassy olive oil—to the pizza once it comes off the grill. Oh, and flaky salt, obvs.

We’re officially inducting eggs into the canon of Great Pizza Toppings. To add a whole lot of drama and richness to your grilled pie, crack them directly onto the dough right when it hits the grill, then cover it. By the time that crust is bubbling and brown, the whites will be set and the yolks still runny.

All it takes is one stop to your local farmers' market to reach pizza-topping nirvana. Get inspired by our list, then freestyle your own pies:

Raw Produce
Sliced red onion
Small spring onions, all colors
Shaved fennel
Sliced fresh chiles (fresno, serrano, etc.)
Scallions
Garlic cloves (for rubbing onto the crust!)
Arugula
All the herbs (basil, oregano, thyme, rosemary, and so on)
New potatoes
Peaches
Nectarines

Precooked Vegetables
Sliced garlic toasted in olive oil
Grilled eggplant
Charred or wilted kale or Swiss chard
Grilled scallions
Caramelized onions

Tomato
Canned Marzano tomato passata
Halved cherry tomatoes
Sliced heirloom tomatoes, in any size and color

Cheeses
Fresh mozzarella, torn
Fresh buffalo mozzarella, torn
Ricotta
Caciocavallo or other harder style (like provolone)
Fontina
Grated or shaved Parm
Grated or shaved pecorino
Fresh goat cheese

Meats
Italian sweet and hot sausage (brown crumbled sausage in a skillet before topping)
Sliced prosciutto and/or speck
Sliced hard salami
Pancetta and/or slab bacon (cut into pieces and render ahead of time)

Other Awesome Stuff
Eggs (crack sunny side up and close grill cover to help it set)
Olive oil, for finishing
Flaky salt
Basil pesto
Herb oil
Calabrian chiles
Crushed chile flakes
Cracked black pepper
Olives
Anchovies
Steamed clams
Honey