This easy pizza with arugula is one of the most popular Italian pizza recipes! The crispy pizza crust is topped with tomato sauce, creamy mozzarella, fresh arugula and delicious shaved parmesan cheese. It's so easy and full of flavor!Recipe yields 2 generous servings or 6 smaller slices.
Prep Time15 minutesmins
Cook Time15 minutesmins
Proofing time1 minutemin
Total Time1 hourhr30 minutesmins
Course: Pizza
Cuisine: Italian
Keyword: Pizza with arugula
Servings: 6
Calories: 296kcal
Author: Katia
Ingredients
Easy pizza dough
1 ½ cup + 2 Tbsps (210 grams)all-purpose flour (leveled cups, see notes), plus more flour to sprinkle
½tspInstant yeast (or dry Active yeast, see notes)
½tspfine salt
¾ cup(180 grams)water, lukewarm
¾Tbspolive oil
Pizza sauce
1Tbspolive oil
1garlic cloves, minced
1 can(14oz/400 grams)tomatoes (cherry tomatoes, or whole or crushed tomatoes)
salt and pepper, to taste
Topping
5oz(150 grams)fresh mozzarella (or from ½ to ⅓ cup shredded firm mozzarella)
2handful of baby arugula, washed
1Tbspextra virgin olive oil, to drizzle
salt and pepper, to taste
3-4Tbspshaved parmesan
Instructions
Pizza dough
Follow the easy no-knead pizza recipe to prepare the dough. It takes 5 minutes of prep time and 1 hour of proofing time. And while the dough is resting, make the pizza sauce.
Pizza sauce
Add the olive oil and garlic to a sauce pot and cook over medium heat for 1 minutes or just until the garlic is fragrant.
Add the canned tomatoes, salt and some freshly cracked pepper. Stir to combine, cover the pot and allow to simmer for about 5 minutes. You might add a pinch of oregano or a few fresh basil leaves if you have them on hand.
When the sauce is ready turn the heat off, taste, adjust the seasoning and set aside.
Pizza topping
Preheat the oven: fistly, place the oven rack or your pizza stone close to bottom heating element, and preheat the oven to 450°F/230°C. Cut a large piece of parchment paper, or line with parchment paper a large baking pan (if you don't use a pizza stone).
Stretch the dough: place the dough onto the parchment paper, and starting from the center and gently press it out with your fingers until you get approx a 12×15 inch pizza (if you use this no-knead pizza dough, follow the steps listed in its recipe).
Spread the pizza sauce evenly across the pizza base using the back of a spoon. You might have some tomato sauce leftovers if the pizza is not large enough. Trust your judgement and don't overload the pizza with sauce. Finally, top pizza with mozzarella and season with a bit of salt, drizzle of olive oil and a pinch of ground pepper.
Bake: slide the pizza from the pizza peel onto the pizza stone if you use one, or place your baking sheet with pizza on the lower shelf. Bake for about 15minutes, or until golden and crusty. Each oven is different, keep an eye on it (e.g. in a forced fan oven it will take about 8-10 minutes).
Serve: scatter the baby arugula leaves over the pizza, season with salt and freshly greound pepper (but you can dress the arugula in a separate bowl if you wish). Add plenty of shaved parmesan cheese, and serve warm!
Notes
Yeast: Active dry yeast and instant yeast can be used interchangeably in this recipe, the Active dry yeast needs to be activated in water (follow the manufacturer’s instructions). Also, you might need to extend the proofing time if needed.How to measure flour: the cups of flour are leveled: fill the measuring cup all the way to the top letting the flour flow over a little. Then, use the back of a knife to level the top off. However, using a digital scale gives a more accurate weight. Flour: all-purpose flour is perfect for pizza, but you can use bread flour instead, it’s totally fine. What to use instead of a pizza stone? Each oven usually has a rimmed baking sheet that you can simply invert it and place on the lowest shelf of your oven before you preheat the oven. Then place your pizza and parchment paper on a pizza peel or on a large tray and, when the oven is hot and it’s time to bake, slide the pizza onto the hot reverted baking sheet. This way, taking the pizza in and out of the oven will be easier than if the baking sheet was right-side up, and at the same time the preheated baking sheet will make a crisp pizza crust. How long does pizza with arugula last? Once the pizza leftovers are cold, remove the arugula leaves and place the pizza in a large freezer bag. Refrigerate for up to 2 days in the fridge. Alternately, wrap your pizza in cling film or place it in a freezer bag, make sure you squeeze the air out and freeze it up to 2 months. Defrost at room temperature. Toast your leftover pizza in the oven and serve with fresh arugula topping if you wish!Nutrition facts: please note that the nutrition values are based on an online nutrition calculator. It’s an estimate only and it should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. The nutrition values are for one small serving.