Pizza On The Grill

I've recently discovered how easy and inexpensive it is to make great pizza on the grill, and I'm going to show you how.

The Dough

My original thought was to make the dough in large batches and freeze it in smaller sized batches ideal for a single pizza.  It turns out that this dough is so easy to make that it's not worth the 'big-batch-and-freeze' approach. This recipe will make one 12-16 inch pizza crust depending upon how thick or thin you like your crust.

1 cup lukewarm water
1.5 teaspoons sugar
1.5 teaspoons instant yeast
1.5 teaspoons salt
11.75 ounces (by weight) all purpose flour (plus a little for dusting)
1 tablespoon King Arthur Flour Pizza Dough Flavor

Dissolve the sugar, salt, and yeast in the water. Add the flour and Pizza Dough Flavor. Roughly mix the dough until it is just starting to stick together. At this stage the dough may look too dry and you'll be tempted to add some additional watter. Don't.

Lightly dust the countertop with flour and put the dough out onto the coiunter. Start kneading. In a minute or two the dough wil quickly transform from appearing too dry to being rather sticky.  Add a tiny little bit of flour at a time until it's no longer too sticky to handle. When I do this I'm addig a couple pinches of flour and then rubbingit over the surface of the dough. After about 5-8 minutes of leasurly kneading you should have a nice elastic dough. Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let wrise for about an hour.

The Sauce

My sauce formula is adapted from one I found on AllRecipes.com.

1 6-oz can Contadina Tomato Paste with Italian Herbs
6 oz water
1 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
1 teaspoon miced garlic
2 tablespoons honey (I omit this for pizzas with sweet ingredients like pineapple)
1 teaspoon anchovy paste
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon dried marjoram
1/4 teaspoon dried basil
(if you like your sauce a little spicy then add cyenne to taste)

Mix the ingredients in a bowl and set aside. This recipe makes enough for two pizzas.

Assembly

Preheat the grill.  I turn mine on high and wait until the thermometer in the lid registers 650F.

Use a polling pin to roll the dough out to the desired size and thickness.   Sprinkle the surface of the of a pizza peal or platter with semolina flour (This keeps the dough from sticking to it). Slide the crust onto it.

Slide the pizza dough onto the grill. My grill gets hotter in the back so after 30 seconds I flip the dough around front-to back.

After a total of one minute take the crust off the grill.  If you like a chewier crust then flip the dough over and place it back on the grill for another minute. If you like a crispier crust then don't flip it over. (This sounds counter-intuitive, I know.)

Spread the sauce over the crust sparingly.  The first time I made a pizza it turned out soggy becase I used too much sauce. Add ingredients as desired such as: 

Pepperoni
2 links sweet Italian sausage fried and crumbled up
Prosciutto

Add the flat ingredientI found that about 8 ounces of shreded mozzarella is about right. My favorite combination of toppings:

I also love to make pineapple and Canadian bacon pizza.

Depending upon appetites, this will server 2-4 people.  I do find that this pizza is more filling than a commercially-made pizza.