FRESH HERBS
A no-brainer, right? Hearty, fresh-chopped herbs like parsley, rosemary, or oregano will give your pizzas a much-needed aromatic zip without much ado. Plus, it looks really fancy and cheffy to sprinkle them on a la minute.
CHARRED GREENS
Before you start cooking pizza, you can prep these hearty leafy greens — which can include kale, broccoli rabe, spigarello, or anything similar — by lightly oiling and seasoning them, then tossing them onto the grill to char. They add a really delightful smokiness and are actually good for you.
Regardless of how you dress up your pizza this season, one thing’s for sure: Nothing says summer like a cookout. That’s why American craft wine The Federalist pairs well with two things: good company and barbecue. Whether that’s The Federalist’s zinfandel paired with sausage or their chardonnay paired with grilled veggies, The Federalist knows that what’s in your glass is as important as what’s on your plate.
When grilled lightly, okra becomes a sensory grab bag, with charred bits, crispy edges, and a creamy interior. That’s what makes it perfect for grilled pizza. While they’re intensely snackable right off the grill (especially with a squeeze of lemon juice or a vinaigrette), a sprinkle of roughly chopped or sliced okra adds a lot of textural interest and fresh flavor to your pies.
COOKED DUCK
If you have leftovers from a Chinese BBQ night, shredded Peking duck meat is ridiculously good on pizza, and it plays really well with a sprinkle of sliced green onion and sesame to finish. Just shred the meat with two forks and take care to discard the skin and bones. Toss with a drizzle of hoisin sauce to moisten, and scatter on your pizza right before it’s almost done on the grill. The spiced meat makes for a surprisingly great complement to mozzarella cheese. If you aren’t into mallards, leftover roast chicken works super well, too.
PROSCIUTTO
With its flavorful stripes of pork fat that just melt at the slightest heat, thin-sliced prosciutto is the expert’s grilled pizza topping. Its chief virtue is the speed at which it cooks — but on top of that, its lightness allows you to give your pizza a nice layer of meaty flavor without weighing it down.
RED ONION
Any onion will be good on grilled pizza. But red onion looks great and stays tasty even if it’s a little undercooked. Just make sure that you slice the onion super thin so that it at least partially cooks on the grill. Alternately, if you don’t mind extra prep time, cut ‘em thick and pre-grill separately.
DRESSED ARUGULA
Fresh greens with a bit of vinaigrette or lemon juice are so good on pizza they’re sure to win over the salad agnostics in the crowd. When added to a pizza that’s just been pulled off the grill, the greens wilt from the residual heat, yet maintain a bit of welcome crispness.
TOMATOES
To forgo the fuss of putting a sauce together, you could add that crucial bit of moisture to your pie with thin slices of fresh tomato. Aim for a super ripe, large tomato or halved pieces of cherry tomatoes that you can scatter on top of the cheese.
EGG
Yes, yes, you can of course “put an egg on it,” and maybe that seems lazy, but how could you resist that barely set egg white and goopy yolk? To make quick work of this part, crack your eggs into individual tea cups or ramekins and ease them onto your pizza before covering the grill.
MUSHROOM DUXELLE
Switch up your sauce and please the umami freaks at the party with a duxelle, an intensely savory mushroom spread made of finely chopped shallots, mushrooms, and fresh herbs. Mushrooms alone need a bit more time to cook and tend to release water, which makes them a bit of a challenge to cook on a grilled pizza. A duxelle is an easy way to get that flavor without the hassle, leaving you with a tasty, savory pie.