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This gourmet-style Arugula Pizza features roasted grapes, gorgonzola cheese, and a lightly dressed arugula salad.
This recipe is sponsored by Wewalka.
Several years ago, the best friend and I piled our overstuffed suitcases into my parents’ SUV, grabbed our passports, and headed to the airport for a European getaway.
On the way, we stopped for pizza.
She pointed to a pizza on the menu, and I agreed without paying much attention to where her finger had landed. And then, our lunch arrived– and there was a salad gracing the top of a thin, cheesy fruit pizza.
There was a salad. And fruit. On our pizza.
Curious, I grabbed a slice, and after only one bite– I was SOLD. That pizza shop is long-gone, but the memory lingers. The savory cheese, the sweet fruit, and the bitter greens all melted together into a pizza paradise that I’ve been trying to replicate for YEARS.
This Arugula Pizza with roasted grapes is the answer to my pizza quest– it’s baked on thin, crisp dough, and topped with a savory gorgonzola cheese, sweet roasted grapes, and a lightly dressed arugula salad.
Want more PIZZA recipe ideas? Try these: Spicy Shrimp Pizza, Crab Pizza, Campfire Pizza with Veggies, Apple Pizza with Gorgonzola Cheese, Gorgonzola Pizza with Jam Drizzle
Dough: The Base of an Excellent Pizza
Repeat after me: “There is no perfect pizza without high-quality dough.”
Anyone who’s tried to use pre-cooked, dried out pizza crust from the grocery store knows this. Anyone who’s bitten into exceptional, delicious crust knows it too.
The dough, more than anything else, has left me frustrated with homemade pizza. My attempts to make homemade dough without a stand mixer have been… sad, and time after time, store-bought doughs and crusts have left me unsatisfied.
And so, for years (yes– YEARS), I’ve been looking for a store-bought solution to my pizza dough woes.
And then I found Wewalka’s European Bistro Pizza Dough, and I did a little hop, skip, and a jump– this was the dough to make my arugula pizza happen! Wewalka‘s Bistro dough is made with only high-quality ingredients, and has both the flavor and texture I’d been looking for in a pre-made dough.
Quick Tip: No pizza stone or pizza pan? No problem! Wewalka‘s dough comes wrapped in parchment paper— simply line a baking sheet with the parchment paper, and the paper will help the dough crisp up while cooking. (The paper will brown slightly while cooking.)
Want to try Wewalka? Use their store finder, and then look for it with the refrigerated doughs at the grocery store. (As of 2022, Welwalka is now “Jus-Rol”.)
Can I Use a Thicker “Original Crust” Pizza Dough Instead?
Yes, but I think it tastes best with thin crust! The crispy texture of the thin crust provides a nice contrast to the roasted fruit and the greens.
Can I Skip the Gorgonzola?
If you can’t find gorgonzola cheese, you can swap it for blue cheese.
If you don’t like gorgonzola or blue cheese, you can swap it for extra mozzarella.
Can I Swap the Arugula for a Different Lettuce?
If you can’t find arugula, try swapping it out for other tender bitter greens, such as watercress, baby spinach, baby kale, or dandelion greens.
How to Make an Arugula Pizza
For this arugula pizza, start by roasting the grapes. While they roast, brush the pizza dough with oil, and add the cheese.
Next, drain the juice from the roasted grapes into a bowl. Add the grapes to the pizza, and slide it into the oven.
Whisk the reserved juice into a vinaigrette with a little olive oil and a shallot. Toss the arugula in a little bit of the dressing, and set the rest of the dressing aside for your next salad.
Right before serving, add the arugula salad to the pizza, and dig in!
Arugula Pizza with Roasted Grapes
Ingredients
Roasted Grapes:
- 1 cup red grapes
- 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
Pizza:
- 1 11″ thin crust pizza dough (NOT pre-cooked)
- 2 ounces gorgonzola cheese
- 5 ounces mozzarella (Just over half of one standard-size fresh mozzarella ball.)
Arugula Salad:
- 2 ounces arugula (2 large handfuls)
- ½ cup olive oil
- ½ shallot, finely sliced
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425ºF. Line baking sheet with aluminum foil.
- Add grapes to the baking sheet, and drizzle balsamic over the grapes. Sprinkle salt over the grapes. Bake 20 minutes.
- Line a pizza stone or baking sheet with parchment paper, and add the pizza dough.Note: If baking pizza on an air-flow pizza pan, you should NOT add parchment paper.
- While grapes roast, brush pizza dough with olive oil.
- Use a fork to crumble apart both cheeses. Add cheese evenly to the dough, leaving a small border for the crust.
- When grapes are done roasting, remove them from the oven, but leave the oven on. Separate the grapes and the roasting liquid, keeping both. Pour the roasting liquid into a small mixing bowl, and add the grapes evenly onto the pizza dough.Tip: Drain as much of the liquid off the grapes as possible, because excess liquid will make your pizza soggy.
- Cook the pizza for about 15 minutes, until the crust is golden and the cheese is melted.
- Allow pizza to cool for about 5 minutes. Meanwhile, whisk the olive oil into the roasting liquid. Stir in the shallot. Taste, and add salt if desired.
- Toss arugula in about ¼ of the dressing. Add more dressing if desired. Store the extra dressing in the fridge, and use on your next salad.
- Top pizza with the dressed arugula. Serve immediately.
I’m all about sweet and savoury combos and definitely love pizza so this one was made for me. Plus, gorgonzola cheese? Pile it on girlfriend. I agree with you – you really gotta have a good dough base and I definitely need to check this brand out. Totally wanting this for breakfast right now!
What an interesting combination of flavours! I’ve never roasted grapes before, but I want to try it! When you make pizza at home, the flavour combinations are endless.
WOW – I have got to find this pizza crust and I love arugula on my pizza too! 🙂 I just got a steel pizza stone to try out since my regular stone wasn’t the greatest.
Ooo I’ve never tried a steel pizza stone!! Lmk how you like it!
My FAVORITE way to enjoy pizza….with an arugula salad on top. YUM. Thin crust already made? What? I need to try this ASAP. Not having the time to make the dough from scratch is the number one reason I don’t make this more often. This is awesome. Can’t wait to try it.
This looks so yummy. I love arugula on my pizza and feta is one of my favorites. I had never thought to add grapes, but i’m excited because the sweet mixed with those greens is going to be amazing. That crust looks delish.
Oh my god this is EXACTLY the kind of pizza the 20 something me would have scoffed at but the >ahem< something me LOVES. These flavors… to die for. THIS is the pizza of pure sophistication!
This sounds delicious! I agree, sweet and savory on pizza just WORKS. I had honey drizzled over my pizza for the first time this past summer—along with pesto, juicy tomatoes, chicken—and it worked SO well! I’m loving the combination here. This is definitely a pizza I would order!
I love a good thin crust pizza! I’ll admit that I’m a little on the fence about arugula on my pizza because I personally find that it can be a little bitter but sign me up for the grapes and cheese! I can totally picture your shock when a pizza with salad and fruit showed up on your table haha. I’ll have to keep my eye out for that crust in stores, I love making pizza at home but don’t like rolling out my own dough so this is just perfect!
Oh my gosh, I’m so in love with the idea of a sweet and savory pizza. And roasted grapes are just the best, aren’t they?! I’ve never heard of that pizza dough but so excited that my Fry’s carries it. I can’t wait to try it!
My favorite pizza of all time is sausage and grape, so yes to fruit on pizza!! I also love prosciutto, fig, and arugula (can you tell I love pizza lol) so yes to salad on pizza, too! This is clearly right up my alley!
I still remember the first time I had roasted grapes. At first, I was thinking, “you can roast a grape??” and then one bite and I was completely sold. Roasting grapes just really takes them to a new level of deliciousness. Combined with my obsession with all things arugula and gorgonzola, you can bet this pizza is going to be happening in my house sooner rather than later! I need to find Wewalka’s dough; it looks like it bakes up so perfectly crispy!