Roasted Vegetable Pizzas

This vegetarian pizza uses a prebaked Italian bread shell (Boboli-style) as a shortcut crust, so you can skip the dough-making and focus on the vegetables. Roasting the vegetables first in a red wine vinaigrette is what sets this apart from your standard frozen veggie pizza.

The vinaigrette does triple duty. It seasons the vegetables before roasting, helps them caramelize at 450°F (230°C), and leaves a tangy backbone that plays off the rich mozzarella. Tossing in Italian seasoning gives the herby pizza-place flavor people expect.

Cutting the zucchini and squash to ¼ inch thickness is the key detail. Thicker slices stay raw in the middle after 10 minutes of roasting, and thinner ones burn at the edges. That uniform quarter-inch cut hits the sweet spot.

The two-stage bake (vegetables alone first, then on the crust with cheese) prevents the bread shell from going soggy. Dumping wet vegetables straight onto a cold crust is how pizza turns into a floppy puddle.

Pro Tips

• Pat the vegetables with paper towels before tossing with vinaigrette. Excess surface moisture prevents browning.
• Don’t crowd the sheet pan. One layer with a little space between pieces is what gives you roasted instead of steamed vegetables.
• Pre-bake the bread shells for 2 minutes alone if they feel soft straight from the package. This crisps the bottom before adding toppings.
• Shred the mozzarella from a block. Pre-shredded cheese has starch coating and doesn’t melt as cleanly.

Variations

• Add sliced Kalamata olives or marinated artichoke hearts for a Mediterranean twist.
• Swap mozzarella for goat cheese or crumbled feta for a tangier finish.
• Finish with fresh basil ribbons or a drizzle of balsamic glaze after baking.