Veggie Garden Pesto Pizza

Why I Love This Recipe

This pizza has fresh heirloom tomatoes, fresh corn, homemade pesto, fresh mozzarella cheese and is topped with fresh arugula. If you are looking for a way to use up your summer and early fall vegetables from your garden or just love veggies in general, this is the pizza for you!

If you love making homemade pizza, check out my Fig and Prosciutto Pizza recipe and my Taco Pizza Recipe. And if you need more recipes for fresh veggies you will love my Air Fryer Bruschetta and my Roasted Vegetable Cheese Quesadillas.

Key Ingredients Needed For This Recipe

All of the ingredients for this pizza are either fresh produce or made from scratch. But, if you don't want to make everything from scratch, you can use store-bought pizza crust and/or pesto.

The veggies I love on this pizza are heirloom tomatoes, sweet corn, and arugula. This pizza tastes like summer!

You will also need cheese, of course. I used pre-sliced fresh mozzarella. Fresh mozzarella is always a good idea on pizza, but you can use whatever cheese you love or have on hand.

*See the recipe card for the complete list of ingredients and quantities.

What are Heirloom Tomatoes?

Although heirloom tomatoes can look a little strange in shape and color, they taste unbelievable and have so much more flavor than your typical grocery store tomato, in my opinion. Since heirloom tomatoes have become much more popular over the years, you can find them in most grocery stores in the summer and early fall.

According to Bon Appetit, "The seeds are what make an heirloom tomato an heirloom tomato. They are passed down from season to season, taken by the farmers from the tomato plants that produce the best fruit. This process allows farmers to select for certain desirable traits like juiciness, size, shape, or color."

How To Assemble This Pizza

Roll out the pizza dough to a 12" round (if you made my homemade crust, this will be half of the dough). Once the oven is preheated, place the rolled-out crust in the oven and bake for 3-4 minutes.

Spread on a layer of pesto then add the cheese, tomato slices, and corn. Bake for an additional 11-13 minutes until the cheese is melted and the crust is brown around the edges.

Remove the pizza from the oven and place the arugula on top. Slice the pizza and enjoy!

Tools for Making Pizza at Home

A pizza stone is a must-have for making pizza at home. When you preheat the stone, it helps achieve a crispy crust. Don't forget the pizza wheel or cutter to make serving easy.

Having a pizza peel to move the pizza to and from the oven is also helpful. This set from Cuisinart has all of your pizza-baking needs all in one!

Expert Tips for This Recipe

• I like to bake my homemade crust for 3-4 minutes before adding the toppings. This helps prevent a soggy middle, especially when using fresh tomatoes, and it also makes it easier to move the crust after topping.
• For an extra layer of flavor, coat the fresh arugula with a light coat of olive oil before placing it on top of the baked pizza.
• Use a pizza peel for an easy and safe way to place the crust on the pizza stone and remove it as well.
• No pizza stone? Use a large baking sheet or pizza baking pan. There is no need to preheat the pan and make sure to adjust bake time as needed.