sheet-pan summer corn pizza
yep, another way to eat corn this summer.
It’s August 1st! Let’s eat some more summer food!
Specifically: CORN ON A PIZZA.
That’s all you need to know. Do it! Don’t delay! The ingredients are simple, the recipe is foolproof, and the result is absolutely freaking phenomenal. The mascarpone and cherry tomatoes mix and mingle to create a creamy tomato pizza base that is next-level summer delicious.
Serve it with a simple arugula salad — arugula, lemon juice, extra-virgin olive oil, salt and pepper — and have your most delightful meal of the summer on the table with only about 10 minutes of actual work. Get in there!
P.S. Ever given up on homemade pizza night because the dough WILL. NOT. STRETCH? Like it keeps springing back on you when you try to roll it out — and/or it won’t stop tearing? Keep reading! I have a trick for you!
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sheet-pan summer corn pizza
Serves 4 to 6
Tools:
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 pound pizza dough
8 ounces mascarpone
2 pints cherry tomatoes, halved
4 garlic cloves, minced or grated (on a microplane or the smallest hole of a box grater)
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
2 ears corn, kernels cut off
1/2 cup fresh basil leaves, thinly sliced
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Optional: red pepper flakes
About an hour before you plan to eat dinner, grease an 18-by-13-inch half baking sheet with 1 tablespoon olive oil. Place the 1 pound pizza dough ball onto the baking sheet and cover it with plastic wrap for 30 minutes to 1 hour at room temperature.
While the dough is proofing (aka resting and rising at room temperature), halve 2 pints of cherry tomatoes and grate or mince 4 garlic cloves.
Preheat oven to 500°F.
Turn the dough ball over so that it is coated in oil, then use your fingers to press the dough out toward the corners of the sheet-pan. If it isn’t perfectly stretching to fill the entire pan, no worries — it doesn’t need to. Just press it out as best you can.
Spread 8 ounces mascarpone over the pizza. Scatter 2 pints of halved cherry tomatoes and 4 minced garlic cloves over top and season with 1/2 teaspoon salt. Cover with 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese and the kernels from 2 ears of corn.
Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until the pizza dough is firm and the cheese is melted.
Scatter 1/2 cup thinly sliced basil leaves, 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese, and a pinch of red pepper flakes over top. Take a bite — you might want to season with more salt at this point.
FYI — we didn’t season with more salt beforehand because it would have made the tomatoes leech too much liquid, leading to a soggy pizza! So I always add more after it bakes!
Cut your pizza into slices (I like lots of small squares) and dig in!
link to printer version
Notes:
Must have meat: Mild Italian sausage would be delish! Crumble and cook in a medium-high skillet until cooked through. Drain off the grease then add it to the pizza at the same time as everything else.
Get more greens: In case you skipped the intro, a simple arugula side salad would be delightful alongside this recipe. Mix a bowl of arugula with a big squirt of fresh lemon juice, a healthy drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil, salt, and pepper. Add some pepitas if you have them in your pantry and want to give your gut health an extra boost!
Make ahead: You can prep the veggies and Parm earlier in the day. Halve the tomatoes, grate the garlic, shuck and de-kernel the corn, slice the basil, grate the Parmesan — store it all in the fridge until it’s go time. Don’t pull the dough out more than two hours beforehand though!
Gluten-free: Google gluten-free pizza crust — there are a lot of easy recipes out there to DIY some gf dough! You could also use a cauliflower crust (but if you’re doing dairy-free too, check the ingredient list as many pre-made cauli crusts contain Parmesan).
Dairy-free: Use df cream cheese brought to room temperature in place of the mascarpone and your favorite vegan mozzarella and Parm.
Can I use my pizza stone? Yep! Just preheat it in the oven then take it out, add the dough, and build the pizza on the stone. Don't try to build the whole pizza elsewhere then transfer it — that rarely works.
More pizza ideas, plz! Maybe you’re reading this in the dead of winter and delicious fresh corn and cherry tomatoes aren’t an option. Or maybe you don’t dig corn or cherry tomatoes. Or maybe you just successfully made this bomb homemade pizza and are officially on a kick. Whatever the case, I have some more pizza recipes for you here! And if you have my cookbook, Just Married, head to pages 168-169 for two cast-iron pizzas you’ll love (my sausage and honey and arugula pesto pizza insalata!).
Substitutions:
Half baking sheet: Use a 12-inch cast-iron skillet instead. FYI, you’ll end up with thicker crust than if you used a baking sheet. Don’t forget to grease it!
Olive oil: Another neutral-flavored high heat-tolerant cooking oil like avocado or grapeseed
Red pepper flakes: Skip if you don’t have them!
Pizza dough: Can’t find it, or aren’t feeling pizza tonight? Make this one-pot sausage and corn pasta instead!
Mascarpone: Crème fraîche or cream cheese, but bring them to room temp first.
Mozzarella: Fontina
Parmesan: Omit if needed
You guys KNOW I love a good sub, but the cherry tomatoes and fresh garlic melt into the cream here to form a dreamy, creamy tomato sauce base. Don’t use a different kind of tomato in place of the cherry tomatoes — they’ll let off too much liquid! And sweet summer corn and basil complement the sauce and each other SO well. If you can’t find or don’t like one of these chief ingredients, check out the “more pizza ideas, plz” note above!! I gotcha covered.
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My dough was soggy in the middle even after extending the cook time ….recs for how to get it baked better? I was thinking maybe par-baking? Idk! Otherwise this slapped.
I’ve made this twice and will make it again! Used cream cheese. Once fresh corn, once frozen. Nice late summer, EASY dinner.