My husband loves to grill, and for a while he seemed to receive a new grilling cookbook for each holiday. While flipping through one, I found a recipe for something I’d never heard of: grilled pizza. Who knew you could make pizza from scratch on the grill? We had to try this!
Our favorite crust recipe is a variation of one I found here. You don’t have to use dough, of course; you can also use a plain storebought crust, dough from a restaurant, the fridged, canned kind, or even some kind of flatbread, but this recipe is so easy that we go ahead and make this.
Pizza Crust:2 Tbsp. active dry yeast
2 cup warm water (105 to 115 degrees F.)
2 tsp. sugar
2 tsp. salt
4 Tbsp. vegetable or olive oil
5 c. cups white whole wheat flour (plain white flour will work, too)
2 cup warm water (105 to 115 degrees F.)
2 tsp. sugar
2 tsp. salt
4 Tbsp. vegetable or olive oil
5 c. cups white whole wheat flour (plain white flour will work, too)
Dissolve the yeast and sugar in water. Let stand for 10 minutes.
Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well. Knead until smooth.
(This is actually a double batch of dough – enough for 2 thick crust pizzas or 4 thin crusts. Whenever I make a batch, I freeze half for later. You can then remove it from the freezer the morning that you want to use and and stick it in the fridge – it’ll be thawed and ready by dinner time.)
To make the grilled pizza, pull off a handful of dough and roll out on a floured or greased surface. Transfer carefully to a plate and put on a hot (350-450) grill. Close the lid and let it begin to bake. After 1-2 minutes, flip carefully with tongs and begin to build your pizza.
The trick to grilling pizza is to build the whole thing backwards. This looks a bit weird, yes, but it allows the most dense foods the most time to cook. So first, sprinkle your meats or chopped veggies on the bread, and the immediately sprinkle with cheese. For the pizza in the picture above, I spread a bit of Philly Italian Herb Creme on the dough, then topped with chopped yellow and green peppers and sliced tomatoes. Then I added a bit of mozzarella. You can also caramelize the veggies in olive oil and skip the Philly and just add the mozz.
For a more traditional pizza, add the meats, veggies, and shredded mozzarella. When it has completely melted, spread tomato sauce over the melted cheese. Close the grill lid just for a moment or two so that the sauce can heat, and then remove the pizza from the grill.
Enjoy!
