Grilled Pizza

By bodanzarama

Summer is a great time for grilled pizza. Why heat up the house when you can fire up the grill? Grilling pizza is easy and fun once you understand some basic concepts.

For complete photos, visit my blog, feed yourself, at http://cucinabodanza.blogspot.com.

Ingredients

• Basic pizza dough recipe or store-bought pizza dough of your choice.
• Toppings of your choice.

Details

Adapted from cucinabodanza.blogspot.com

Preparation

Step 1

At its most basic, grilling pizza is a three step process:
1. Grill first side of pizza
2. Remove pizza, flip, add toppings to already grilled side.
3. Return pizza to grill to continue cooking.

Important to keep in mind:

*Have a clean grill*
Unlike baking a pizza in the oven, your dough will most likely sit directly on the grill grate. That's part of what gives it that grilled flavor. No one wants to get an old charred bit of burger on the bottom of their slice of pizza. If you prefer, you can use a pizza stone or additional grill grate with smaller openings on your grill.

*Pre-cook common pizza toppings*
When grilling a pizza, the heat is mainly from the bottom. Though you close the lid, it's not quite the same as baking in an oven. Raw meats, for example, will not thoroughly cook. Even veggies will remain pretty "raw" unless you at least partially cook them first.

*Use a gentle hand when topping your grilled pizza*
A layer of cheese half an inch thick will not melt and brown to a bubble ooze before the bottom of the crust burns. Consider a grilled pizza as a thinner, lighter variation on a theme. Use less of all the toppings, including tomato sauce. A lighter topped pizza is also easier to handle.

*Enjoy your mistakes*
Grilling pizza is easy but still requires a bit more technique than simply sliding a frozen pizza or even a homemade pizza into the oven. Toppings might fall off, crusts might get bent or too dark in spots or stick. Hey, these are all great reasons to try again and again and again. Recruit your friends and family to make it easier and more fun.

So let's grill a pizza.

* Set up all of your prepared toppings near the grill, preferably on a surface that can also fit the peel. You will be dressing your pizza right on the peel.
* Pre-heat your clean grill on medium heat. Patience, grasshoppers. Low and slow gives you more control.
* Oil the grill. Please be careful. Using a pair of tongs, grab a folded up kitchen cloth or paper towels. Dip liberally in olive oil and wipe the grill grates.
* Now the dough. Feel free to use store bought dough but it's easy to make your own. There are plenty of pizza dough recipes out there so choose the one you like. At the bottom of this post I've included my mom's recipe, the one I've used for this pizza.
* Get the dough on the grill. The easiest way to do this is with a pizza peel. Dust the peel with cornmeal or polenta and use this as your work surface to shape your crust. Any shape is fine. Then slide that pizza right off the peel onto the oiled grill. Sooooooooo smooth. A dusted cookie sheet works too. If the cookie sheet has a lip all the way around, simply flip it over.
* Cook first side with the lid closed until golden with grill marks. Keep an eye on it.* Remove crust from grill. In one smooth move, gently take hold of the crust with the tongs and pull it onto your peel as you gently slide the peel under the crust.
* Top your pizza. With the peel sitting flat on your work surface, flip the crust over and brush the cooked side with olive oil. Top with your favorite goodies.
* Re-oil the grill. I neglected this once and my crust stuck enough for me to bother to suggest that you re-oil.
* Cook your pizza. Return the topped pizza to the grill, close the lid and cook until the cheese melts or the bottom is browned to your liking. Again, check it every few minutes. It's a great idea to rotate the pizza once or twice because every grill has a hot spot.* Remove your fabulously grilled pizza, tear up some fresh basil all over it, slice and eat!