We've grilled pizza about 5 times in the last month...I've become a savant with pizza dough, truly, I can have it whipped up and in the oven rising in about 10 minutes! The Boy has become quite skilled at manning the grill and flipping the crusts but I've noticed he lacks imagination when it comes to toppings...sauce, sausage and cheese, nothing more. When my nieces were here they proved to be a bit more adventurous and decorated their pizzas like they were on Project Runway. The mister, well, let's just say he's not a big fan of pizza...oh, he'll eat it, slice after slice, but with each bite he complains about how he's not supposed to eat pizza because he's on a diet (yeah, the seefood diet...see-food-eat!)
(I might have let it rise just a tad too long!) Last night the girls from church came over to grill some pizza...it had rained all day and was stinkin' cold out...so my plan was for them to grill the crust outside on the grill, umbrellas overhead, and then pop them into the oven to finish up the toppings. Luckily, the sun came out just as we turned on the grill...ONE HOUR of sunlight for the entire day!
Everything was prepped and ready for them, and once they chopped, diced and sliced the veggies they sauteed them so they would be precooked and ready to top the pizzas. Then the girls hand-stretched-out the dough...I was thinking thin crusts but the longer they worked the thicker they got! Outside the grill-girls had everything under control...
Now that's serious pie! Of course, if you are making pizzas for a crowd, like we did last night, then the oven comes in handy. After the crusts were grilled on each side we brought them in to be topped and baked...not as much chaos that way.
The girls continued to grill the crusts outside while the oven finished them up inside - 450 degree oven for about 5 minutes, just long enough for the cheese to melt and the toppings to be heated through. (Since we pre-cooked the peppers and sausage, the baking time is very short.) I know for most of you the thought of turning on your ovens is about as welcoming as toe fungus...but here in the Great Northwest, turning on the oven is about as close to summer as it gets!
Grilling pizza is a FUN and inexpensive way to feed a crowd. I made a quadruple batch of dough, each batch made four pizzas, about ten-inches in diameter...so we made 16 pizzas! Crazy fun! Try this one with your kids, your grandkids or your big baby husband for a quick weeknight meal - dang fun!
Click here for the Home-made Pizza Dough recipe...it's dang good!
You can follow the recipe and bake your pizzas in the oven or, if you're going to grill them, here's what you need to know:
Brush olive oil all over one side of pizza, then put that side DOWN onto a hot grill and immediately brush the top side with olive oil and close the lid. Let crusts cook for about 3 to 4 minutes (about 350 degrees or medium heat), or until they are lightly browned and have nice grill marks, then open grill, and using tongs, flip the crusts to the other side, and fly into action! Spoon on your sauce, cheese, veggies, meat - whatever! But be quick and then close the lid and as the bottom of the crust bakes so will the top and after 3 minutes or so you'll have yourself one the best tasting pizzas outside of Italy...promise!
OR...put your crusts on the grill and grill both sides, then remove and top your crusts inside and bake in a 450 degree oven for about 5 minutes or until the toppings are heated through and the cheese is hot and bubbly.
