Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Pizza on the Grill

For some time now, I am reading all I can on grilling pizza.  The technique is what makes grilling pizza successful.  I realize that most of you are now creeping into cold, rainy, snowy weather, but down here in Florida, we will be grilling all winter.  That's a good thing!!

So if you can't try this right now, file it away in your memory bank and I hope you will give it a try.  This is actually not a recipe at all, just explaining the technique on how this can be done successfully.

Roll or pat out your pizza dough onto an oiled sheet of parchment paper.  Let rest.  Start your gas/charcoal grill.  It does not need to be too hot.  Use a cooler spot on the grill.  Take the parchment paper and flip the dough onto the grill.  Quickly peel off the parchment paper and dispose.  Put the lid on the grill and let the dough bake for about 3 minutes.  It will be making large bubbles on the top of the dough as it cooks.   Peek underneath to see if you have good grill marks and before the crust starts to get too dark.

Now flip the dough off the grill with the grilled side up.  Arrange your toppings...sauce, herbs, browned sausage, pepperoni, etc., top with cheese and slide back on the grill with the uncooked side of the dough down.  It will take 3 to 5 minutes to finish the bottom crust.  I think you can see the grill  marks on the crust above.  It was getting too dark outside to take a better photo.

A quick way to make pizza and it was tasty.  The crust turned out to be quite crispy.  Obviously because of the short cooking time, the ingredients you put on top need to be precooked.

13 comments:

  1. I've been wanting to try this ever since I saw Ina do it. You are correct, we are (not creeping, but leaping) into the cold weather. We just missed snow yesterday. I think the high winds blew it east! I may have to wait until spring to try it.

    Best,
    Bonnie

    ReplyDelete
  2. I LOVE grilled pizza and you gave me some ideas I hadn't thought of! I'm so happy to live in an area of the country where we can use our grill all year long! Thanks for the inspiration!

    ReplyDelete
  3. We grilled pizza a few times this past summer and I wasn't happy. I just kind of threw my dough onto the grill. Now as I read this, using parchment and *placing* it on the grill is a much better idea!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I have been wanting to do this for and while and now it won't happen until next year.
    Enjoy!
    Rita...a little bit jealous..

    ReplyDelete
  5. Be still my heart. I love a good grilled pizza! I just haven't been brave enough to slap that dough down on the grate. Does it not stick? I am sure I could spray the grill with olive oil, but it always seems like a disaster waiting to happen (with my grilling skills!). I sure do enjoy eating them when I get a chance. May have to give it a shot. Thank you for the info. t.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Sounds like fun, but here in Provence you'd freeze your fingers off trying to BBQ outside...

    ReplyDelete
  7. I've never tried pizza on the grill; always wanted to, but shied away. You've convinced me. I'll save this for spring, although I do know a lot of people up north here who grill all year long. (I'm not that hearty.)

    ReplyDelete
  8. We drag our gas grill from just outside the porch under the roof and closer to the back door so we can grill most of the winter too. It does take the grill longer to warm up in cold weather, though!

    My first attempt at grilling pizza, although not perfect, was delicious. I did burn the bottom of the crust a little.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Susan, why haven't I gotten around to grilling pizza? :( I've often thought of doing the flatbreads that I've seen on various cooking shows. Best put that on my list, eh?
    PS: we grill all winter as it is undercover.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Thanks for the tips, Susan. I've tried grilling pizza but haven't been all that happy with the results. It wasn't on the grill long enough for the cheese to melt. The toppings were cold when the crust needed to come of the grill. I'll probably give it another try in the Spring.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Good description of the grill technique Susan. We love pizza on the grill and yes, it is nice to be in Florida where we can grill all Winter.

    ReplyDelete
  12. What fun! I really miss having a grill...but loved reading about this!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Susan, your pizza looks fantastic! It will be a long while until we grill here, we just had snow flurries and hour ago. I envy you and your grilling season and warm winter! ENJOY!!!

    ReplyDelete