Grilled Pizza

[LaraW]

Someone last week had asked about grilling pizza. I was really busy all weekend, then could not get into the website at all last night.

This is one of our favorite things to do during the summer. The recipe was in the June 1998 CL.

Quick and Easy Pizza Crust

2 C bread or all-purpose flour
½ tsp salt
½ tsp sugar
1 package quick-rise yeast
¾ C. warm water (120-130 degrees)
1 Tbsp olive oil
Vegetable cooking spray
2 Tbsp cornmeal

1. Combine first 4 ingredients in a large bowl; make a well in the center. Combine water and oil; add to flour mixture. Stir until mixture forms a ball. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic (about 10 minutes).

2. Place dough in a large bowl coated with cooking spray, turning to coat top. Cover and let rise in a warm place (85 degrees), free from drafts, 45 minutes, or until double in bulk. Punch dough down, divide dough in half, cover and let rest 10 minutes.

3. Roll out each half of the dough, placing on a cookie sheet sprinkled with cornmeal.


I usually like to refrigerate the dough slightly at this point (10-15 minutes is all you need) because it makes it a lot easier to handle.

We have a gas grill, and I have no experience using a charcoal grill. We heat the grill, then set it to its lowest setting. Put one rolled out piece of dough on the grill, close top and time it for 3 minutes, until puffy and golden. You really have to stay right there and keep an eye on it. I then turn the dough off the grill (grill mark side up) onto a large cutting board or cookie sheet. Then put the toppings on. One of our favorite toppings is sliced roma tomatoes, topped with a mixture of fresh basil, mozzarella and parmesan cheese, and fresh oregano. Then slide it back onto the grill for 3 minutes to cook the underneath side.

It’s really important to not have lots of toppings on the pizza. Just fresh ingredients and a little cheese. I am a cheese minimalist anyway, so that doesn’t bother me.

Hope this helps!

[chefbec]

I've always been dying to do this; thanks!

[JHolcomb]

Thanks! I've been wanting to try this. Does anyone know how to do it on a charcoal grill? That's all we have.

[buddie]

here is another recipe from cookinglight! this is our favorite summer treat

BBQ PIZZA
buy pillsbury pizza dough (i usually get 2 canisters)
onion
butter
brown sugar
mushrooms (as many as desired if you like)
green pepper (sliced)
red pepper (sliced)
4 large tomatos, (chopped)
garlic (4 cloves chopped/minced more or less depending on what you like)
parsley (cleaned and chopped)
2 tbsp olive oil
cheddar and mozrella cheeses
oil

slice the onion thin and saute on the oven with butter and brown sugar (as much brown sugar as you like) this will make you carmelized onions. once this is cooked scoop in a bowl and then saute the mushrooms and put in a
bowl mix the chopped up tomato, garlic and most of the parsley with the 2 tbsp olive oil. roll out the dough to the shape of your BBQ rack. oil the BBQ rack and place raw rolled out dough on it. cook for about 7 minutes or
until bottom is brown (with the lid open). once brown take it off the grill and flip it over onto a floured cutting board so the brown side is up. on the brown side spread out the tomato mixture, pile on mushrooms, onions, peppers and cheeses. slide back on the BBQ close the lid for about 5 minutes. watch the bottom of pizza and cook till crust is brown and cheese is melted. sprinkle with the remaining parsley this is a wonderful refreshing lite crunchy a bit chewy pizza. you can omit the onions and mushrooms add pepperoni whatever. the only part that has to be kept (from
the original recipe) is the tomato mixture.. ENJOY!!

[browneye]

jholcomb:
I have a Weber charcoal barbeque, and we tried pizza on it recently. I think I wrote about it on another thread. Well, we didn't really know what we were doing, and got the coals too hot. The first pizza burned to a crisp on the bottom. Then we let the coals cool down, pushed them off to the side, and the second pizza barely cooked. I think if we'd had enough to make three, maybe that third one would have worked better... All I can tell you is, well, it is more tricky on a charcoal grill than I had expected..
http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/frown.gif

[JHolcomb]

Browneye-
Thanks for the warning. Maybe I won't try it (unless someone else has some charcoal grill pointers). DH doesn't "believe" in gas grills.

Jen

[This message has been edited by JHolcomb (edited 05-02-2001).]