My Pirate and My Kid helped me taste-test grilled pizzas
this afternoon after planting The Victory Garden. Don’t be fooled, My Kid showed up after the
planting, because he’s no dummy. My
Pirate and I smelled faintly like organic fertilizer, tomato leaves, and
compost but that didn’t stop us from enjoying our lunch together.
While My Pirate and My Kid were chatting on the front
sidewalk, I rambled inside, cooed at the dogs, and washed my hands a couple of
times. Then, with a whoosh of flame I
turned on My Girl Grill (Weber Q 300). I
threw some flour down on the counter and rolled out three dough rounds. I grilled the dough rounds and then we had
fun topping our pizzas while talking smack about our different pizza styles.
I’m a purist and lightly top mine, while My Pirate employs the kitchen sink
approach. And My Kid claims to land
somewhere in the middle, but he has a culinary flair for the dramatic and
substituted pesto as his sauce, finding the red sauce derivative. Or so I tease.
We carefully and quickly slid our pizzas onto the grill. It
was a tight fit. I closed the lid,
turned off the heat and waited for the cheese to melt. A very long six minutes.
Then we pulled the pizzas out onto a peel and a cutting board. I photographed them and we gasped in shock
and then laughed when Barnaby almost succeeded in flipping over the peel with 2
pizzas on it. My Pirate saved our
lunch! Then we rolled a pizza cutter
over our pizzas and devoured them while commenting on our pizzas. We all came to the conclusion that we need to
make it again soon. You know, just to
perfect our topping combinations.
Grilled Pizza
by Laura Heldreth
If you don’t have homemade pizza dough on hand, you can use
a store bought dough, flat bread, tortilla, or even an English muffin. Peter Reinhart recommends using a pizza
stone, but I don’t. Play with the
ingredients and let your appetite guide you. The fun of this meal is that everyone gets to make their very own
creation, so no suggestions or complaints!
Pizza dough--I love using Peter Reinhart's recipe, but I use Trader Joe's dough in a pinch.
Sauce—spaghetti, Alfredo, pesto, olive oil, salad dressing…
Veggies—canned roasted peppers, artichoke hearts, olives…
Fresh herbs—basil, oregano, fennel…
Meats—salami, pepperoni, cooked sausage or hamburger, cooked
chicken…
Cheese—parmesan, mozzarella, cheddar…
Red pepper flakes
Sit the defrosted pizza dough sit out of the fridge for up
to two hours. I prefer one hour.
Preheat the gas grill on high while you roll out the pizza
dough into individual rounds, about five to ten minutes.
Spread the dough out on a floured cutting board with your
flour coated fingertips. Finish rolling
it out with a rolling pin or toss it on your knuckles. Place the dough rounds
on the grill and cook until brown grill marks appear and the dough bubbles. Turn over.
Then cook until it is faintly browned.
Remove from the grill. Place the
top down on the grill and drop the heat to medium.
Take the cooked dough rounds and top the side with the grill
marks. Top the dough rounds sparingly
with your favorite toppings. The trick is to not overload the pizza so that the
dough remains crisp and the cheese melts evenly. Place the pizza’s back on the grill. Shut the lid.
And turn the heat off. Wait five
to ten minutes for the cheese to melt and then they are ready to devour.
