Spring Pizzas for Easy Entertaining

Celebrate spring's arrival with these creative and colorful combinations of sauce, cheese and toppings.

By: Jackie Alpers

Related To:

1 Pizza Dough, 8 Pies

Pizza is the perfect food for entertaining — a crowd-pleaser with unlimited options for sauce, cheese and toppings. We explored some creative combinations of ingredients that celebrate spring. All of these pizzas started with the same basic dough recipe, which we expanded on, inspired by our imagination and our love of the season.

Get the Recipe: Pizza Dough

Spring Seafood Pizza

Roll out pizza dough, then brush with melted garlic butter. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and thyme. Top with king crab, shrimp, fresh peas, fresh basil and a soft, mild cheese like Franklin's Teleme.

6+ Cheese Pizza

For a super-cheesy pizza, top rolled-out dough with tomato sauce, grated Parmesan, a four-cheese shredded Italian blend, Ciliegine mozzarella balls, smoked mozzarella, crumbled blue cheese and torn fresh basil leaves.

Roasted Corn & Goat Cheese Pizza

Top with fresh parsley, tomato sauce, crumbled goat cheese and roasted corn kernels, then bake before adding cherry tomatoes and chives.

Optional Add-Ons

Prosciutto adds a salty bite to the meaty version of this pizza.

Cheesy Meaty Pizza

This fully loaded pie combines tomato sauce, Calabrese salami, capocollo salami, Ciliegine mozzarella balls, artichoke hearts, fennel, shallots, blue cheese, grated Parmesan and, for an extra-springy touch, pretty microgreens — easy to find in the supermarket.

Build the Pizza

Roll out the dough, top with tomato sauce, then completely cover the surface with thin-cut slices of Italian salami. Then top with cheese and vegetables, and bake.

Green Pizzas

Celebrate St. Patrick's Day with these naturally green pies. The Shishito Peppers & Pesto Pizza has dried herbs folded into the crust before rolling (fresh herbs would make the dough too wet). Add a layer of a four-cheese Italian blend on the bottom, then spoon on fresh pesto. Top with shishito peppers before baking.

The Woodland Fairie Pizza

This pizza looks like tiny elves and fairies could live in it. For this very green pizza, fold dried herbs into the crust, use fresh pesto for the sauce, then sprinkle with blue cheese (it looks more green than blue), grated Parmesan and blanched asparagus. Bake, then top with arugula and avocado.

Bagel Pizzas

This pizza decked out with bagel toppings is perhaps the polar opposite of a pizza bagel. Roll sesame seeds, dried onions and sea salt into prepared dough for an almost "everything bagel" crust. Place the rolled dough directly onto a medium-hot grill and cook for 1 minute on each side or until nicely browned.

Breakfast (Pizza) Is Served

Let the crusts cool slightly before topping with herbed cream cheese, smoked salmon, capers, red onions, Campari tomatoes and flaky sea salt.

Chocolate Blueberry Pizzettas

Roll pizza dough into 1-inch balls, flatten, then dust with dark cocoa powder and cinnamon sugar before baking. Cool slightly, then top with mascarpone cheese mixed with a little lemon juice and fresh blueberries. Garnish with lemon zest, sage leaves and even edible flowers for a fancy (but not too pricey) party touch — you can find them at Whole Foods as well as many supermarket chains.

On Tonight

Spring Entertaining Guide