Nick's Knacks: Grilled Pizza

YUM - right?? What, you've never tried it?? It seems like few of my friends have and it's really fairly easy. So here it is - grilled pizza 101.

I made my crust but it is not necessary. You can use the canned stuff, frozen and thawed bread dough, buy it from a pizza place you like, or easily from scratch. I only had whole wheat flour and so that's what I made, whole wheat pizza crust. I tried out this recipe to see how I liked it, I will be changing it next time I make it - but it is a good basic to start.

First take 1 teaspoon of yeast and add it to 2 cups of warm water and about a tablespoon of sugar. This "blooms" the yeast and gets it ready to work. If you don't see any action going on in your bowl, your yeast may have died. RIP

If it seems to be active, a little bubbly, etc. add 1 cup of flour and blend together.

Add another 3 cups of flour, make sure the dough is not really sticky.

This is enough for two large pizzas. If you only need one you can refrigerate or freeze half of it for another time. Place your dough in an oiled bowl and set aside for about 90 minutes to rise..... use a large enough bowl.... not like this:

On a floured counter roll out your dough, it's so much easier to make 2 smaller pizzas than trying to fight with a larger one.

Not that I did that, but trust me, it's much much easier!! Place the dough onto a stone, cutting board, cookie sheet or pizza pan. If you are using something with a lip, like my pizza pan, just flip it over and use the back side. It makes getting it onto the grill a lot smoother. Your pizza crust doesn't need an edge either, just roll it flat.

Once the crust is ready you can go and get the grill going and then line up all your toppings. You want everything ready to go since this is a pretty quick process. Here are some of my toppings ready to go:

Remember that cooking a pizza on the grill is much different than in an oven, you aren't really "cooking" the toppings, just heating them and melting the cheese. Anything that you would want to cook a bit you need to do that first. I also like the sauce to go on warm to help the process along, so I heat it before spooning it on.

I wanted some sweet onions and peppers on mine, but not raw - so I cooked them up and had them ready to go.

Once everything is laid out and your grill is hot - get your pizza dough ready to go. I use a mug with some olive oil and my tongs with a paper towel to wipe down the grill - also on the crust itself, don't want anything sticking!

Once your dough is on the grill, don't walk away. It'll happen quick! The dough will bubble up a bit and the underneath side will get a bit crunchy, a few grill marks and some yummy dark areas.