Grilled pizza

I've been wanting to make grilled pizza ever since I found a pizza crust that I love.  I had attempted grilling pizza before but it turned into a burnt, doughy, mess and my grill was not very happy with me.  I've been watching youtube videos and reading all kinds of articles to try to get the technique down.  Tonight I decided was as good a night as any to conquer this grilling feat.  I made my dough, chop chop chopped veggies for toppings, shredded my cheese, preheated the grill, and what do you know?  It worked!  And it was incredible!  #neverorderingpizzaagain

pizza + sunshine = happy annie

Steps to great grilled pizza -

-First make your dough

-Then get your toppings together.  The biggest part to making grilled pizza is being organized.  I chopped all of my veggies, shredded my cheese, and put it all in bowls out by the grill so that I had everything right there when it was time to go.

     ---Also, if you can, shred your own cheese 

-While you're at it, light the grill and heat it to high (you may need to remove a birds' nest from it as well, if the birds in your neighborhood are like ours)

-Now, your dough should be ready.  Take a handful of the dough, roll it into a ball, and roll it out into a circle, about 1/4 inch thick.  We made 2 smaller and 2 larger pizzas and the smaller ones were so much easier to handle on the grill.

not perfect rustic pizza

-Brush the top liberally with olive oil, this helps it not stick to the grill

-Now sprinkle it with sea salt (optional, but highly recommended)

-Stack your rolled out pizza dough between wax paper on a plate

-Now make sure you have everything you need outside, ready to go.  

-Your grill should be hot, make sure the grates are brushed off and clean, have your toppings close by,               you'll need a large metal spatula to flip the pizza, cooking spray, a bowl with olive oil and basting brush, and a pan to put the pizza on when it's done (check, check, and check!)

-Spray the grill with cooking spray, don't want anything sticking

-Now, place your dough, oil side down, on the grill



note: these were our large doughs, they were harder to work with, make them smaller than this

-Keep the grill cover open and let them cook 2-3 minutes on this side.  Keep a close eye on them because you don't want them to burn.  The dough will start to form bubbles on top when it's close to being done. 
-Meanwhile, use a basting brush to coat the other side with olive oil
-When the bottom has turned a nice golden brown, use a large spatula to remove the dough, flip it over onto the not cooked side onto the top rack


these went from beatiful golden to charred in 20 seconds, lesson learned

 -Now work quickly to put your sauce, cheese and toppings on.  We did chunky tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese and asiago, thinly sliced zucchini, salami, tomatoes, and red onions.
 note: the toppings you choose should be pre cooked - or fast cooking, you're basically only melting the  cheese and cooking the dough in a few short minutes

-Now leave them on this rack and close the cover for 2-3 minutes to help the cheese start to melt
-Once it starts melting, move the pizza back down the bottom and cook 1-2 more minutes until the dough is nice and golden brown
-Remove from grill and serve!



texas shaped pizza?

Tip:  if your pizza is sticking it could be that you didn't clean or grease your grill enough, or you need to turn the heat up - each side should take less than 5 minutes.  Also, if you're crust is done but your cheese is not melted, you could put them in a 250 degree oven for a few minutes to melt it a little better.

Hello new favorite summer meal!