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This Garlic Pizza Recipe is all about flavor from a simple garlic oil, mozzarella cheese base, and a generous topping of fresh arugula and a balsamic drizzle. This Garlic Pizza with no red sauce will impress everyone on your next pizza night with the flavors of melted cheese and garlic and the bright bite from the fresh toppings.
Recipe Highlights
- The garlic oil is a simple way to start the garlic pizza using grated garlic.
- The garlic pizza is cooked with the oil and cheese and then finished with the fresh toppings at the end.
- It’s an easy pizza to modify with your favorite toppings or a gluten free pizza dough.
Table of Contents
Garlic Pizza Ingredients
- Pizza Dough – You can use any style you want. We recommend a Neapolitan Pizza Dough for a pizza oven, or our Sourdough Pizza Dough. Or you can use a store bought or NY Style dough for your grill or oven.
- Garlic oil – This is a key ingredient and easy to make on your own versus buying one.
- Fresh Mozzarella – You can use shrededed, low moisture, but we like the creamy flavor from the fresh.
- Caramelized Onions – It’s worth the time to make Caramelized Onions for this Garlic Pizza, because it adds a natural sweetness to the flavors.
- Arugula – They will slightly wilt when you place on the hot pizza at the end.
- Spicy pickled peppers – We love Mama Lil’s brand, but any spicy pickled pepper will work.
- Finish – Aged balsamic vinegar for a drizzle over the top and some finishing salt like Maldon
Garlic Pizza Recipe Oil
The magical flavor for our garlic pizza is the oil base. We use it as a secret ingredient on so many of our recipes like our Kale Pizza.
The goal is to infuse garlic flavor into oil. We use extra virgin olive oil and then freshly grated garlic cloves in the oil to infuse flavor without getting large chunks of garlic.
For one portion we use 1/4 cup of the oil and two garlic cloves. This is good for up to two pizzas.
We also have a great white pizza sauce that is just as delicious. Alternatively you can buy a garlic infused olive oil to save time.
Tools
For a full list of tools check out our guide for essential pizza tools. The most important are:
- Good wooden pizza peel
- Turning peel
- Pizza stone
- Good IR thermometer to measure the temperature of the pizza stone
- Silicone Brush
How To Make Garlic Pizza
For this garlic pizza recipe we start by cooking the dough topped with the garlic sauce and cheese and then add the fresh ingredients after the pizza is cooked. Be sure ingredients are prepped in advance as the pizza will cook quickly.
- Preheat Oven: Prepare your pizza oven targeting the pizza stone at 700 – 725 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Prepare Garlic Oil: In a small bowl add the olive oil and then shave the garlic clove using a micro-plane grater. Set aside until ready to use.
- Caramelize Onions: While the oven is warming up caramelize the onions. In a sauté pan over medium heat add butter. Next add the sliced onions and stir occasionally until the onions soften and then turn brown. Adjust the heat down if they start to crisp up or burn. This can take up to 25 minutes.
- Prepare Pizza: Roll out your pizza dough into a 11 to 13-inch round on a floured pizza peel. Brush the oil onto the pizza and then top with small clumps of the fresh mozzarella cheese. Holding the pizza peel be sure the pizza can slide, if it doesn’t lift the edges of the dough and add more flour.
- Cook Pizza: Slide the pizza onto the pizza stone and cook for 1 minute or until the dough rises. Then rotate the pizza 180 degrees and continue cooking until the cheese melts and the dough is cooked through on the edges and bottom. Remove the pizza.
- Top with Remaining Toppings: Add the fresh arugula, caramelized onions, pickled peppers, and then drizzle with the balsamic vinegar. Add a pinch of finishing salt and then slice and serve.
Home Oven Modification
Total time in a traditional oven 8-10 minutes.
Place a large pizza stone on the middle rack and set the oven at 550 degrees. Let preheat and warm for at least 20 minutes to get the stone up to temperature. Place the pizza on the center of the stone and bake for 5 minutes. Then using a pizza turning peel, rotate the pizza 180 degrees (most ovens the back is hotter). Bake for another 5 minutes until the crust is golden and the cheese is melted.
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Grill Modification: Follow our directions on how to grill pizza if you want to make this garlic pizza on a grill. We also have a guide on how to make pizza on a pellet grill.
Other Pizza Recipes
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BBQ Chicken Pizza (in the oven or grill)
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Best Gluten-Free Pizza Dough (Neapolitan Style)
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Homemade Neapolitan Style Pizza Dough
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Smoked Brisket Pizza
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Garlic Pizza with Mozzarella, Arugula, and Balsamic Drizzle
Ingredients
- 1 pizza dough
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic
- ⅓ cup fresh mozzarella, chunked, (1/2 large mozzarella ball)
- ½ cup fresh arugula
- ¼ cup caramelized red onions
- 2 tablespoons sliced pickled peppers, (We love Mama Lil's brand)
- 1 tablespoon aged balsamic vinegar
- ¼ teaspoon finishing salt
For the Caramelized Onions
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- ½ red onion, thinly sliced
Instructions
- Preheat Oven: Prepare your pizza oven targeting the pizza stone at 500 – 550 degrees. For a traditional kitchen oven this means placing the pizza stone in the oven and turning it on to 550 degrees. Let is warm for 45 minutes.
- Prepare Garlic Oil: In a small bowl add the olive oil and then shave the garlic clove using a micro-plane grater. Set aside until ready to use.
- Caramelize Onions: While the oven is warming up caramelize the onions. In a sauté pan over medium heat add butter. Next add the sliced onions and stir occasionally until the onions soften and then turn brown. Adjust the heat down if they start to crisp up or burn. This can take up to 25 minutes.
- Prepare Pizza: Roll out your pizza dough into a 11 to 13-inch round on a floured pizza peel. Brush the oil onto the pizza and then top with small clumps of the fresh mozzarella cheese. Holding the pizza peel be sure the pizza can slide, if it doesn’t lift the edges of the dough and add more flour.
- Cook Pizza: Slide the pizza onto the pizza stone and cook for 4 minutes or until the dough rises. Then rotate the pizza 180 degrees and continue cooking until the cheese melts and the dough is cooked through on the edges and bottom. Remove the pizza.
- Top with Remaining Toppings: Add the fresh arugula, caramelized onions, pickled peppers, and then drizzle with the balsamic vinegar. Add a pinch of finishing salt and then slice and serve.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This is a great recipe to modify as flat bread if you don’t want to add the greens. Or add your favorite meats if you want to add some savory flavors.