Grilled Mushroom, Onion, and Fontina Pizzas with Fresh Tomatoes and Arugula

By á-168951

Ingredients

• To make the pizza even faster, use refrigerated store bought pizza dough. Before shaping, allow the dough to set a room temperature until pliable, about 45 minutes.
• Serves: 4
• 1 1/2 cups tomato sauce
• 2 tsp chopped fresh basil
• 4 large portobello mushroom caps, gills and stems removed
• 3 Tbs extra-virgin olive oil, more for drizzling
• Kosher or sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 large red onion, sliced into 1/2 inch thick disks
• 3 cups grated Fontina Val d'Aosta (9 1/2 oz)
• 2 medium yellow, purpose, or orange tomatoes, sliced 1/4 inch thick
• 2 cups baby arugula
• 1/2 cup loosely packed small fresh basil leaves
• Balsamic vinegar, for drizzling

Details

Servings 1
Adapted from keyingredient.com

Preparation

Step 1

If using a gas grill, turn one of the burners to low to create a cooler zone. Scrub the grill grate with a wire brush and then wipe the grate with a paper towel dipped in oil.

While the grill is heating, shape the pizza dough. Put the dough on a lightly floured work surface. Knead it briefly to expel any air bubbles and then cut it into quarters. Cover 3 pieces with plastic wrap to prevent them from drying out. Using a rolling pin or your hands, flatten the dough into a 10 inch circle about 1/4 inch thick. It at any point the dough resists rolling, set it aside to rest a few minutes while you work another piece of dough.

Lightly dust a baking sheet with a little flour. Using your fingers, transfer the rolled-out dough to the baking sheet and cover with parchment. Repeat with the remaining 3 pieces of dough, shingling the dough between lightly dusted sheets of parchment. Cover the baking sheet with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to grill the pizzas.

When the grill is hot, brush the mushroom caps with 2 Tbs of the olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Slide toothpicks or skewers horizontally onto the onion disks to hold them together. Brush the disks with the remaining 1 Tbs olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Arrange the mushrooms and onions on the hot side of the grill and cook until grill marks have formed, about 4 minutes. Flip and grill until the are well marked and tender, 3 to 4 minutes more for mushrooms, 1 minute more for onions (if the onions threaten to char, move them to the cool side of the grill). Let cool briefly, remove the skewers from the onions, and then coarsely chop the mushrooms and onions.

Have the pizza dough, sauce, toppings, and a clean baking sheet ready near the grill. Use your fingers to carefully transfer one of the dough rounds onto the grate over the hot part of the grill. Grill just until grill marks form on the bottom and the dough has begun to crisp and puff up a bit, about 2 minutes. (If you are able to fit 2 pizzas on the hot part of the grill at the same time, grill 2 at a time.) Using tongs and a wide spatula, move the crust, cooked side up to the empty baking sheet. Spoon a thin layer of heated tomato sauce over the surface of the pizza. Scatter 3/4 cup Fontina over the sauce, and then top with one-quarter of the mushrooms and onions. Using tongs and a wide spatula, slide the pizza raw side down onto the cooler side of the grill. Cover the grill until the bottom is browned and crisped and the cheese has melted, 3 to 5 minutes. Using the tongs and spatula transfer the pizza to a large dinner plate. Top with about 4 tomato slices and lightly season them with salt. Scatter about one-quarter of the arugula and basil over the pizza and drizzle with a little olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

Grill the remaining 3 pizzas in the same way, dividing the toppings evenly among them. Serve as soon as all of the pizzas have been grilled. (If you want the cooked pizzas to remain hot, put them in a 200 degree oven as you finish them, but wait until just before serving to top with the tomatoes, arugula, and basil.)