Pizza on the Grill

You don’t have to have a wood-fired oven to get great pizza. Pizzas can be cooked at home on your grill. The other night we watched Bobby Flay grill really great tasty looking pizzas on his charcoal grill and decided to give it a try. It looked simple enough – Bobby just punched out his dough, brushed it with a little oil, seasoned it with salt and pepper and threw it on a hot grill, turned it once, and in minutes he had a nice crispy grilled pizza, ready for the toppings. We made two different grilled pizzas - one with slow roasted tomatoes, fresh mozzarella and basil and the other with fresh mozzarella topped with a lemony arugula salad.

Pizza with quick-rise dough

I usually make a simple quick-rising dough using the food processor, shown above and link here, with our homemade tomato sauce and top it with fresh tomatoes and basil. However today we took a short cut and purchased dough from the deli of our local supermarket. Some supermarket dough is better than others (Publix has a great one).

Pizza dough is simple to make at home and next time, if I’m not near a Publix, I will make my own. In addition to my quick rise dough recipe above made in the food processor, I can also recommend a very tasty recipe for homemade dough that we found in the New York Times from pizza mavens Roberta’s in Brooklyn (I know how wonderful this recipe is because my brother-in-law made this dough recently), link to Roberta’s recipe here, and another link to how they make their dough here.

We used Bobby Flay's method of grilling pizza. Bobby says instead of oiling his grill, he prefers to brush his food with the oil and don't forget to season your food with salt and pepper. Bobby uses tongs to flip his pizzas and so did we. We found it was a lot of fun to be outside, enjoying the weather while we flipped pizza dough and the pretty grill marks and crusty edges are part of the reward.

If you're having a cook-out this weekend, shake it up a bit and throw some pizza dough on the grill.

Grilled Pizza with Slow-roasted Tomatoes, Fresh Mozzarella, and Fresh Basil
Grilled pizza dough instructions adapted from Bobby Flay
Topping - My Carolina Kitchen – Sam Hoffer, serves 2
Printable Recipe

1 pound ball of pizza dough, homemade or store bought, brought to room temperature if refrigerated
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 ounces fresh mozzarella, cut or torn into small pieces
4 tablespoons freshly grated Italian Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
Slow-roasted tomatoes, recipe below
Fresh basil leaves, torn or if small, left whole

Punch and stretch out the pizza dough with your fingers until you reach a desired shape, round or slightly elongated, your choice (not all pizzas have to be round.) Heat a gas or charcoal grill to high and when very hot, brush both sides of the dough with oil and season with salt and pepper. Grill until golden brown on both sides (use long tongs to flip them), about 2 minutes per side. Remove the pizza to a flat surface (we slid ours on a pizza peel dusted with cornmeal) and top first with the mozzarella, then sprinkle with the Parmesan cheese, and finally arrange the slow-roasted tomatoes on top of the cheeses. Slide the pizza back on the grill, cover and heat just long enough for the mozzarella to melt & become bubbly, about a minute. Remove the pizza and top with basil leaves. Basil leaves tend to turn dark when they get hot, so leave them for last minute. Serve immediately.

Slow Roasted Tomatoes
Adapted from Cooking for Friends from Williams Sonoma, serves 4 – 6
Printable Recipe

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. Slice 8 to 10 plums tomatoes in half lengthwise and arrange on a lightly oiled rimmed baking sheet, cut side up. Be careful, the tomatoes will want to slide around. Drizzle with about 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil and sprinkle evenly with some sugar, about a teaspoon, then thinly sliced garlic, a clove or two depending on their size, and plenty of crunchy sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Roast until the tomatoes turn a deep red and are wrinkled, which should take about 2 to 2 ½ hours. Remove them from the oven and let cool on the baking sheet. They are good warm or at room temperature.

For a nice twist to a pizza, top it with a freshly dressed salad. In this case I used a lemony arugula salad, but you could use any young greens. Roberta’s pizza in the New York Times used arugula, as well as my brother-in-law when he made the NY Times version of this recipe, so I followed suit.

All in all we had a fun time grilling the pizzas, flipping them with tongs like Bobby Flay. Whether you grill your pizzas outdoor, indoors, or use a pizza stone, these are very versatile recipes and are open to your own interpretations.

Grilled Pizza with Mozzarella and Arugula Salad
Grilled Pizza dough instructions adapted from Bobby Flay
Salad topping adapted from Roberta’s & the New York Times, serves 2
Printable Recipe

1 pound ball of pizza dough, Roberta’s homemade, your own homemade, or store bought, brought to room temperature if refrigerated
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 ounces fresh mozzarella cheese, cut or broken into small pieces
4 tablespoons freshly grated Italian Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
Extra virgin olive oil
Crunchy sea salt (I liked Maldon)
2 handfuls baby arugula
Half a lemon, juiced and seeds removed

Punch and stretch out the pizza dough with your fingers until you reach a desired shape, round or slightly elongated your choice (not all pizzas have to be round.) Heat a gas or charcoal grill to high and in the meantime put the arugula in a large bowl and dress it lightly with a splash of olive oil, lemon juice and a further pinch of salt, or to taste. Brush both sides of the dough with oil and season with salt and pepper. Grill until golden brown on both sides (use long tongs to flip them), about 2 minutes per side. Remove the pizza to a flat surface (we slid ours on a pizza peel dusted with cornmeal) and top with the mozzarella and Parmesan, then slide the pizza back on the grill, cover and heat just long enough for the mozzarella to melt and become bubbly, about a minute. Remove and top with the dressed salad greens and serve immediately.

This will be shared with Foodie Friday at Rattlebridge Farm, Miz Helen’s Country Kitchen Full Plate Thursday, and Food on Friday at Carol's Chatter.  

Have a great weekend everyone.

Pizza - Made even better with Homemade Sauce and Dough

Pizza sauce and dough are two of the simplest things to prepare at home and both can be made in advance. The dough can be made in the food processor and stored in the refrigerator or freezer until you’re ready. The pizza sauce goes together in under 45 minutes and also freezes well. There’s just no excuse not to make your own.

Oddly enough the best pizza I ever tasted was in a tiny restaurant in Salzburg, Austria many years ago. It was topped with sliced fresh tomatoes, which came as a surprise to me. I almost always use fresh tomatoes now. That particular pizza also omitted the traditional red tomato sauce, but I’ve used a little of a homemade sauce on my pizza today. Feel free to omit it. It’s delicious with or without the sauce.

For the dough I’ve used rapid-rise yeast. It’s a time saver because it is a strain of yeast that doesn’t need to be dissolved separately in liquid and the dough only needs to rest 10 minutes instead of the traditional one to two hours to rise.

Here are some tips from Wolfgang Puck for making pizza:

- Always bake in a hot, hot oven.

- Be sure to sprinkle your work surface with flour or cornmeal so your dough doesn’t stick.

- Brush dough with olive oil before adding toppings to avoid sogginess.

Quick-rising Pizza Dough in the Food Processor
Makes two 12” crusts
Printable Recipe

2 cups all purpose white flour
2 packages Rapid-Rise yeast
½ teaspoons salt
½ teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon olive oil

In a large-capacity food processor, combine 1 cup flour, yeast, salt and sugar. Heat ¾ cup water and the oil to 125 to 130 degrees F. With the motor running, slowly pour in the hot liquid through the feed tube. Process, adding up to 1 tablespoons of cold water if needed to make the dough form a ball, then process for 1 minute to knead. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, knead about 9 to 10 times, then cover with plastic wrap and let rest 10 minutes.

Dough can be made ahead, punched down, dusted with flour and wrapped with plastic wrap and stored in a plastic bag in the refrigerator overnight. Bring to room temperature before using. Dough can also be frozen in plastic bags, defrosted overnight in the refrigerator, and then brought to room temperature before using.

Tossing the dough in the air is one of the fun parts of making your own dough. Here I am learning how to toss the dough from a friend of ours at his house. You can probably tell by the look on my face that I was a little afraid of dropping it. It always helps to have someone cheer you on and encourage you when trying something new.

Basic Pizza Sauce
Yield 4 cups, enough for four 12” pizzas
Printable Recipe

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup finely chopped yellow onions
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
2 - 28oz cans Italian peeled tomatoes, drained and crushed (save liquid)
4 tablespoons tomato paste
3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried basil
Pinch of ground allspice
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Pinch of hot pepper flakes
2 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley
Splash of red wine if desired

Heat the olive oil in a medium-sized saucepan. Add the onions and cook over low heat to wilt. Add the garlic and cook a minute or two longer, taking care not to let the garlic burn. Add remaining ingredients (except parsley) including the liquid from the tomatoes. Stir well, cover and simmer over low heat for 15 minutes, stirring once or twice. Remove the lid, add the chopped parsley and wine if using, then simmer an additional 15 minutes or until the sauce is fairly thick, stirring occasionally. Remove from the heat, cool, and refrigerate (or freeze).

Fresh Tomato and Basil Pizza
Serves 3 to 4
Printable Recipe

Dough for a 12” pizza, brought to room temperature if it has been refrigerated
Corn meal for preparing baking sheet or pizza stone
2 teaspoons olive oil
½ to ¾ cup pizza sauce (optional)
½ cup grated fresh imported Parmesan cheese (not the stuff in the green can), divided
2 – 3 tomatoes, cut into ¼” slices
6 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Fresh basil leaves for garnish and a wonderful fresh flavor

Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F. Prepare a baking sheet or pizza stone by sprinkling with a little cornmeal. Roll out pizza dough to the desired shape and place on baking sheet or stone. Brush with the olive oil. Spread with pizza sauce if using, leaving a ½ inch border, then sprinkle with half of the Parmesan cheese. Arrange the tomatoes over the cheese and top with garlic, salt and pepper and remaining cheese.

Bake the pizza at 500 degrees F for 12 minutes. Check to see if pizza is crispy. If not, let it cook another minute or two. When done, remove to a cutting board and sprinkle with some torn basil leaves. Let sit for 5 minutes before slicing.

Not all pizzas have to be round - create your own shape

Did I hear someone say where’s the mozzarella cheese? Your wish is my command. One of my favorite pizzas is the classic Pizza Margherita, shown above, made with mozzarella, fresh tomatoes and basil. As the story goes Queen Margherita was visiting Naples in 1889 and grew tired of fancy French fare and wanted to try what the common people ate. The owner of the best pizzeria in all of Naples was summoned to prepare three pizzas for her Highness. His mozzarella version was her favorite so he named it Pizza Margherita in her honor. While many people believe this story, records indicate that pizza with mozzarella, tomatoes and basil, which happen to be the same colors of the Italian flag, was eaten in Naples forty years before she sampled it.  You can find my recipe for Pizza Margherita here in an earlier post.

I hope everyone has a great weekend. Last Saturday this pretty hot air balloon floated past our lanai as we were having breakfast. Meakin was able to get a good shot of it through the screen don’t you think.

*  *  *

This will be linked to Miz Helen’s Country Kitchen Full Plate Thursday and Foodie Friday at Designs by Gollum.

Super Bowl Pizza Party

Homemade pizza is easy and fun to serve during a Super Bowl party. Before everyone arrives, mix up a big batch of dough (or better yet buy some from your local bakery or pizzeria), assemble your favorite toppings ---various meats, cheeses, vegetables, fresh basil --- whatever you like. When it’s time to eat, encourage everyone toss the dough high in the air like the pizza man does at the pizzeria before assembling their custom made pie and popping it in the oven. The easy part is your guests do the cooking. 

Here’s a recipe for a basic pizza sauce that is sure to please and is far superior to commercial sauces. It’s a snap to make and can be prepared in advance and frozen.

To accompany the pizzas, serve a big green salad and a simple lemon vinaigrette of three parts extra virgin olive oil to one part fresh lemon juice as the dressing. Your guests can choose additional ingredients for their salad from the cheeses and vegetables you have on the pizza bar. Purchase some big fat cookies, such as chocolate chip or oatmeal raisin, from the bakery and you have dessert. 

I’ve included a recipe for my favorite pizza, the simple Margherita with mozzarella, tomatoes and basil. That particular pizza has some history to it. Queen Margherita, while visiting in Naples in 1889, grew tired of fancy French fare and wanted to try what the common people ate. The owner of the best pizzeria in Napes, Raffaele Esposito, was summoned to prepare three pizzas for her highness. His mozzarella version was her favorite, so he named it Pizza Margherita in her honor. Many people believe that particular pizza was invented for Queen Margherita, but records indicate that pizza with mozzarella, tomato and basil, the colors of the Italian flag, was eaten in Naples forty years before she sampled it. 

Basic Pizza Sauce

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 cup finely chopped yellow onions

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

2 cans (28 oz. each) drained & crushed Italian peeled tomatoes

4 tablespoons tomato paste

3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon dried basil

Pinch of ground allspice

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Pinch of hot red pepper flakes

2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian flat leaf parsley

Heat olive oil in a medium size non-stick skillet. Add onions and cook over low heat to wilt. Add garlic and cook one minute more. Add remaining ingredients, except parsley. Stir well, cover and simmer over low heat for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove cover, add parsley and simmer additional 15 minutes or until fairly thick, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat, cool and refrigerate.

Yield: 4 cups, enough for four 12” pizzas. Can make ahead and freeze in one cup portions.

Assorted pizzas

Pizza Margherita 

Dough for 12” pizza

1 cup basic pizza sauce, recipe above

½ lb. Mozzarella cheese, grated

2 ripe tomatoes cut in ¼” dice
8 to 10 sliced black olives

8 whole fresh bail leaves

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil (optional)

Freshly ground black pepper

At least one half hour before cooking, preheat your oven to 500 degrees F. Shape pizza dough and place on a pan sprinkled with cornmeal. Spread pizza sauce on dough, leaving a 1” rim. Top with cheese, sprinkle with tomatoes and arrange basil on top. Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil. Sprinkle with freshly ground black pepper. Bake on bottom rack in oven until crust is golden, 15 to 20 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes before serving. 

Pizza with everything

Jacques Pepin's Smoked Salmon Pizza on Naan Flatbread

I was flipping through Jacques Pepin’s newest cookbook, More Fast Food My Way, when I came across a recipe for Smoked Salmon Pizza served on naan flatbread. Naan resembles pita bread and is a staple in places such as India, Asia, Afghanistan and Iran. I had seen it in the grocery store and was anxious to give it a try.

Jacques baked the prepared naan in a hot oven for about ten minutes, removed it from the oven and let it cool for a few minutes. He topped it with a mixture of sour cream and prepared horseradish, slices of smoked salmon, slivers of red onion, a few capers and fresh cilantro leaves. Ours looked just like the picture in his book and it was a nice change from smoked salmon on toast.

I was so intrigued by the naan that I decided to make a tomato pizza using the naan as a base. It’s fast and easy and took care of our pizza craving.

Tomato Pizza on Naan Flatbread

Excellent with a green salad

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

1 naan flatbread

¾ cup grated fontina cheese

2 tomatoes, peeled and sliced

Dried oregano

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Brush a small baking sheet with the olive oil, turn the naan in the oil to coat on both sides. Bake for ten minutes until it is crusty and brown, add sliced tomatoes that you have generously sprinkled with dried oregano, kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper and top with the fontina cheese.   Return to oven and cook until cheese melts and tomatoes are hot. Serves 2.