Pizza on the Grill

When we got our new BBQ pit about a month ago, K picked up a few BBQ books as well, including one for Pizza on the Grill. Not so surprisingly, I had never heard of such a thing, but I was intrigued. My brother from Alabama is coming into town next weekend, and we are having him & his wife, along with another friend couple over to watch UFC, and K wants to make Pizza on the Grill, so we decided to do a trial run with just the two of us this weekend. We didn't use any of the pizza recipes out of the book, just the techniques, so that we wouldn't wind up dropping the dough into the coals...hehehe.

The most exciting part for me, though, was making our own pizza dough and sauce. I figured, hey...if we're gonna do this, we may as well do it all the way!! Both were pretty easy and turned out tasting pretty good.





Did you know that some people and pizza chains use grits to roll their dough in? I did not know that. Guess I learned something new, eh?





Prepped and ready to be wrapped for rising

For the sauce - and no, I did not use cookies, that is just the picture on the brown sugar bag ;)

 Mmm...looks tasty, right?



 Dough has now risen, been beaten and kneaded, and is ready for rolling out (in the grits, might I add)

It has begun...won't be long now!!



 Pizza #1 - Canadian Bacon & Pineapple

 Pizza #2 - Pepperoni & Mushroom - K was a little anxious to eat it and stole a piece before I got the picture ;)

In case you didn't notice, these pizzas are not your ordinary out-of-the-box round variety. Nope. They have to be shaped based on the type of grill you are using, and where the coals or burners are. "Organic shapes" is what the book calls it :) I'm good with that. They turned out pretty good; the sauce was really good. A few adjustments we will make next time: higher temp in the grill or put the pizza directly over the heat for a bit to make the crust more crispy, try some different cheese combination's - the mozzarella alone was a little bland, and more pepperoni - I may have shorted K a bit, on accident!

The most difficult part of the process occurred once we got the pizza on the grill - when it was time to turn it, and again to flip it. The book suggests using tongs...this does not work :( So, we used two spatulas and still struggled a bit. But with practice, I'm sure we will master those aspects of it as well.

For the dough (from Pizza on the Grill)

- 1 cup lukewarm water
- 1/4 cup olive oil, plus extra for coating the bowl
-1 tsp honey
- 2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast
- 3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1/4 tsp kosher salt

1. Mix the water, honey & oil in a bowl. Sprinkle the yeast on top and let sit until it gets foamy.
2. In another bowl, combine the flour & salt. Add the water mixture 1/2 cup at a time until fully incorporated. If the dough is sticky, add more flour; if it is stiff, add more water. Continue to mix until it feels elastic. Spread onto a lightly floured surface and knead until the dough is smooth and easy to work with. Do not overwork or it will be tough.
3. Oil a third bowl, and place the dough in it, turning to coat all sides. Drizzle a little extra oil over the top of the dough. Seal tightly with plastic wrap and set in a warm place to rise, about an hour. Dough will double in size.
4. Punch the dough down and knead on a slightly floured surface until smooth. Divide into 2 equal balls.
5. Spread grits onto your rolling surface, and roll out 1 ball at a time. You can use a rolling pin, or just stretch it into your desired shape by hand. Once rolled to your desired shape and thickness, spread about 1 Tbs of oil on each side. Now you are ready to grill!!
6. Grilling instructions vary depending on the type of grill you own...but grill over indirect heat for 3 minutes, then turn 180 degrees and repeat. Remove pizza onto pan, flip over and apply toppings, then return to grill for 5 minutes. Turn 180 degrees and grill for additional 5 minutes until bottom is crisp and cheese is melted.

 For the sauce (A Sweet Beginnings original)

- 3 mince garlic cloves
- 3 Tbs olive oil
- 1 can tomato puree (29 oz)
- 1 can crushed tomatoes (28 oz)
- 2 Tbs brown sugar
- 2 Tbs dried oregano
- 2 Tbs dried basil leaves
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

1. In a large pot, saute  garlic and oil for 2 minutes. Stir in all remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer about 30 minutes.

Easy as pie!! :)