Vegetarian Pizza Ortolana

A vegetarian pizza slice on a small plate next to the rest of the pizza.

The best vegetarian pizza recipe with lots of vegetable toppings and buffalo mozzarella.

Course Main Course

Cuisine Italian

Keyword pizza ortolana, pizza with vegetables, veggie pizza

Prep Time 30 minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes

Total Time 40 minutes

Servings portion

Calories 1502kcal

Author Eva | Electric Blue Food

Ingredients

1 ball pizza dough homemade or store-bought
100 ml pizza sauce
125 g buffalo mozzarella or regular mozzarella
4 slices eggplant fried or grilled
4 halves sun-dried tomatoes drained
4 slices zucchini raw or grilled
4 slices bell peppers roasted or grilled
a swirl of olive oil

Metric - US Customary

Instructions

Prepare your toppings. If using vegetables preserved in oil (like sun-dried tomatoes, or peppers), drain the desired quantity. If using fresh (like eggplant or zucchini) slice the desired amount and grill or fry.
Drain the mozzarella from the whey, cut into pieces and place on a fine mesh sieve to remove excess moisture. Ideally this step is done a few hours in advance but even just a half hour is fine (see notes below).
Stretch your pizza dough to desired thickness. Spread an even layer of pizza sauce then top with the various vegetables. Finish with the mozzarella.
Bake the pizza in the pre-heated oven at 250°C (480°F) for 8-10 minutes or until the sides and cheese have nicely browned. Add a swirl of olive oil as soon as you take the pizza out of the oven.

Notes

Please notice that preparation times may vary depending on products used. Preserved veghetables onyl take minutes to drain, but if grilling or frying fresh vegetables budget in that extra time or prep in advance.

If using a pizza stone (like I did) I recommend to sprinkle some semolina on the pizza peel so your pizza will slide more easily. If using a pizza pan make sure to spread some olive oil so the dough will not stick.

To properly drain mozzarella, remove it from its package and cut it into pieces. Place the pieces in a colander or sieve and let sit for a couple of hours. If your mozzarella is particularly soft you may gently squeeze it when it's on the colander, to remove even more excess water. If you forgot to drain mozzarella you can add it to the baked pizza as soon as you take it out of the oven.

Please notice that the nutritional information included in this recipe card is made by an online calculator and meant to only be used as a guideline. Vegetables preserved in oil have higher calories than raw.

Nutrition