Black Olive Pizza

🤍 Recipe Highlights

I have summarised everything that you will come to know and love (LOVE ❤) about the recipe in the points below:

• Simple ingredients: all of the ingredients you need to make this delicious pizza are simple and easy to find at the local grocery store. Both the olives and capers will be in the aisle with the vinegars and pickled onions.
• Budget friendly: save spending money at pizza hut or your regular pizza place and whip up your own pizza instead.
• Quick and easy: this pizza takes only minutes to bring together and has a quick cook time in less than 20 mins. That means no working for hours and hours in the kitchen to get dinner done!
• Vegetarian: it can be nice to make a pepperoni pizza or homemade supreme every now and then. But similarly it can be nice to go meat free and make a veggie pizza for a change. This is that vegetarian pizza combo.
• Fully loaded: sometimes you get pizza and think 'where are the toppings?'. This fully loaded pizza is the opposite of that. With a thin and crispy base, we pile on as much as the good stuff as we can.
• Not typical: olive lovers, this one is for you 😘.

🥗 Ingredients

The photo below is to show you everything you need to make the black olive pizza recipe. Please refer to the printable recipe card for specific ingredient measurements as well as detailed instructions.

As you can see the recipe calls for:

• Italian herbs: we use this dried herb combination as part of the sauce ingredients.
• Dried onion: saving time by not peeling or dicing an onion, we use dried onion also for the sauce. You will find this in the herbs and spices section of the supermarket. It is dried onion flakes.
• Tomato paste: this is the key ingredient for the sauce.
• Capers: despite their size, these little green buds positively burst with flavor. They will come in a bottle with liquid. We need to drain but not rinse them.
• Black olives: easily the star of the show! If you purchase sliced black olives then all you need to do is drain them and throw them on top of the pizza. It is too easy!
• Pizza dough: you have a wide variety of options here. Whether you want to use homemade pizza dough, use store bought, buy a premade pizza base with a thicker crust or use your favorite pizza base. Each will work with the recipe.
• Mozzarella: mozzarella cheese is a good melting cheese yet it can be a bit bland in flavor. For that reason we pair it with another cheese and end up with the best of both cheese worlds. Fresh mozzarella that you grate yourself will return the best results.
• Colby cheese: this cheese compliments the mozzarella on top of the pizza as well as bringing a little bit more flavor to the pizza. Freshly grated from a block using a handheld or box grater is best.

Top Tip: I like to provide you with a number of substitutions and variations giving you an array of options when making my recipes. If in doubt of any of the above ingredients, or wanting alternatives, read this section (further below) before jumping into the instructions on how to make the recipe which are coming next 😉👌.

🍳 Instructions

Here are the step by step instructions to make the recipe. We start by making the pizza sauce.

• Gather the pizza sauce ingredients (Photo 1)
• Combine (Photo 2)
• Roll or stretch dough (Photo 3)
• Add the sauce to the dough (Photo 4)

👩‍🍳 How to Make Black Olive Pizza

Start to make the pizza by gathering the tomato paste, dried onion and Italian herbs. Add these to a small bowl and use a spoon to stir together. Then set aside.

Next, use a lightly floured surface to roll your pizza dough into the shape you wish and place it onto a pizza pan.

Then top the surface of the dough with the sauce and use the back of a wooden spoon to spread the pizza sauce into a thin layer covering the dough.

• Add half of the cheeses (Photo 5)
• Add the olives (Photo 6)
• Add the capers (Photo 7)
• Top with the rest of the cheese (Photo 8)

Next take half of the mozzarella and sprinkle it over the pizza sauce. Then do the same with the colby cheese.

Once done spread the sliced black olives out across the cheese to form their own layer.

Then sprinkle the capers over the top of the olives as shown in the photo above.

Once done, spread the rest of both types of cheese over the top of the olive and caper topping.

• Cook the pizza for 20 minutes (Photo 9)

Then place the pizza tray into the preheated oven and cook the pizza for 20 minutes.

Once the time is up and the cheese is melted and the surface of the pizza is golden brown, you can use oven mitts to remove the pizza from the oven. Place the cooked pizza onto a heat proof surface and then use a pizza wheel to slice the whole pizza into portions.

🍽 Serving Suggestions

If you are a pizza and bread person then the Tortilla Garlic Bread, Garlic Pizza Bread or the Garlic Ciabatta will work well.

If you are after a salad side try the Caprese Salad, Tomato Bread Salad or the Fresh Herb Salad.

Or if what takes your fancy is simply digging in by, grabbing a slice of pizza and devouring go for it 😁👌.

There is the thin and crispy base, the smattering of capers and olives and the gooey melted cheese. Its a winning combination.

The pizza goes down a treat with a glass of either white wine in the form of a pinot gris or pinot grigio or a smooth glass of pinot noir if you are a red wine fan.

👍 How to Guide

How to Store

Store leftover pizza slices in an airtight container or plate with plastic wrap in the fridge for 2-3 days. They are best reheated before being consumed.

How to Reheat

Place the leftover pizza slices onto a plate covered with cling film and heat for 1-2 minutes in the microwave. Or place the pizza slices back into the oven or air fryer basket and heat till warmed through.

How to Freeze

Leftover pizza can be placed into an airtight container and stored in the freezer. Then heat from frozen by placing the slices back into the oven until the cheese has melted and the toppings warmed through.

😉 Substitutions and Variations

Here are my sub ins and outs that you might be thinking about as you read the post and I will tell you if I think they will work or why they won't:

• In place of the Italian herbs, you can use the equivalent amount of either dried parsley, dried basil or dried oregano.
• If you want to add more protein, slices of pepperoni or Italian sausage are both good options. Soppressata or regular salami will work well with this combination also.
• For vegetables try adding some sliced green bell pepper, cherry tomatoes, chopped artichoke hearts, diced red onions (then you can omit the dried onion from the sauce) or sliced mushrooms.
• For the pizza base, you have a wide variety of options if dough isn't your thing. Try a pita bread, fresh naan, or tortilla bread for something different.
• For a little spice you can either replace the capers with sliced jalapeno or use it as an additional topping (thinly sliced).
• Parmesan cheese is one of the few cheeses that I don't use (too often) for a pizza topping. It is short and soft when grated and doesn't slip, slide and melt the way other cheese like mozzarella does. So use at your discretion, not my recommendation 😉👍.
• I use chopped chives for garnish but you could also use fresh basil leaves if you wish too.

💡 Tasty Tips

Here are my top tips and tricks that I want to share with you so that you master the recipe from the get go:

• If using a store bought pizza dough, remove it from the fridge, roll it into a ball and spread a little olive oil over the top for best results. Sometimes store bought refrigerated pizza dough needs to rest and come to room temperature before you roll it. So check the packet to see if that instruction is specified on your packet.
• You can see that I use a pizza tray in the photos throughout the post. A pizza stone will also work if you have one that you want to use.
• If you like olives, but don't love olives, then you can reduce both the quantities of the black olives and the capers down to half of what is listed in the recipe card.
• For both the olives and the capers, we drain them but there is no need to rinse them.
• The best type of pizza for cheese is freshly grated using a hand held or box grater. But if you don't have time (or the energy) you can use a store bought pizza cheese blend.
• By adding half of the cheese before we add the olives and capers and half after, we are allowing the pizza toppings to be 'seen'. Other than simply seeing a cheese covered something pizza. This adds to the visual delight of the pizza 👌.

🤓 Frequently Asked Questions

What goes well with black olive on a pizza?

Using a simple combination such as a thin crust, red pizza sauce, sliced black olives and capers with a good dose of cheese really allows the olives to shine through as the star ingredient.

Are black olives a good pizza topping?

Yes! Black olives are an excellent pizza topping.

What cheese goes with black olives?

Mozzarella, a sharp cheddar, colby, goat cheese or feta cheese all pair very nicely with black olives.

😍 More Easy Dinner Recipes

If you want some more ideas to make your dinners the most looked forward to and complimented part of your day, then I am here to help. Here are some recipes that offer diversity through taste, textures and proteins:

• Chorizo Pasta Bake
• Prawn Pizza
• Chorizo and Prawn Linguine
• Mini Hot Dogs
• Wagyu Burger
• Roast Beef Sliders
• Thai Minced Pork
• Chicken Pesto Linguine
• Meatball Rigatoni
• Mince Pasta Bake

It's time to get our olives and pizza on my friend! You can also find all of my comfort food or family favorite recipes in the one spot.

Adrianne

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