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Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Yummy Grilled Pizza

During my travels in Canada visiting my family, I was introduced to many interesting food ideas. Some of these ideas were from restaurants, but majority were from good old home cooking. It's interesting because I really love to read menus and eat in restaurants. I love to hear about different flavor combinations, to taste new ingredients and to forecast restaurant trends. However, it's the home cooking that gets me everytime. Why? Because it's so simple. Simple flavors and simple execution.
Today's recipe is a perfect example of this. Introduced to me by my sister and executed to perfection... the grilled pizza. Sounds interesting, right? Yes it is. And here are all the reasons why:

1. You get a crispy crust every time

2. When it's hot and you don't feel like turning on your oven in your already roasting appartment/house/dwelling, moving outside and turning on the grill sounds like a great idea

3. Less clean up. I am not actually sure if there is less clean up than the conventional pizza method, but it certainly is minimal. Especially if your toppings are only prepared on the grill. 1 dough bowl, 1 pizza pan, 1 cutting board and knife, and the grill (which really shouldn't be that dirty)

4. Great conversation topic. People will ask you about the grilled pizza... about the dough, how to get it on the grill, how to make it crispy, what toppings to use etc etc. Talk about an ice breaker!

5. Great to make a few big sharing pizzas or to make a bunch of pancake sized individual pizzas

6. Healthy. No oil needed to grill to veggie toppings or the crust (except for the small amount already in the crust).

So, are you interested in trying this recipe? Please do. I have been inspired to try it and love the results!


Grilled Pizza Recipe
The Dough
Makes 2 large crusts or lots of little ones
Adapted from the book "Pizza on the Grill" by Elizabeth Karmel, Bob Blumer

1 cup Warm Water
1 tsp Honey
1/4 cup Olive Oil
2 ¼ tsps Active Dried Yeast
1 cup Whole Wheat Flour
2 cups White Flour
¼ tsp salt

In a large bowl, measure out water, honey, and oil. Sprinkle in yeast and let it rest in a warm place until foamy on top.

In another bowl, mix together flours and salt. Add to the liquids slowly, ensuring that it's well incorporated. Add more water or flour as necessary to make a soft and slightly sticky dough. Turn out dough onto a floured surface and knead just until smooth (about 1 minute. Do not overwork!).

Place the dough in a clean, oiled bowl. Drizzle the top with olive oil and ensure all sides are coated. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place for about an hour until doubled in size.

After doubling in size, punch the dough down and knead again on a floured work area for a few minutes until smooth. Divide into two balls.

Note: you could also incorporate herbs or olives to the dough during the final kneading

The Toppings
This is where you can be creative and use whatever toppings you love or that inspire you. For summer, think fresh, light colorful ingredients. Grilled veggies, fresh herbs, grilled chicken... whatever you desire.

For our pizzas, we used grilled aubergine, asparagus and zucchinni with caramelized onions, crushed garlic, sundried tomato pesto, and grated mozzarella.

The Assembly and Cooking

1. Preheat the gas grill on medium heat with the cover on.

2. Roll out the dough ( I like mine really thin- about 3-4 mm thick)

3. When the grill in hot, place the pizza dough directly on the grill and close the lid. Leave the lid closed for about 3 minutes so that the dough rises and the bottom is golden brown.

4. Remove the crust from the grill and flip over so the grilled side is up. Top your pizza with your chosen toppings. Reduce heat on grill to med-low and put the pizza back on the grill. Close the lid and let cook for about 7 minutes until bottom is brown and cheese is melted.

5. Enjoy!

10 comments:

  1. Grilling is my favorite way to cook pizza. I was so surprised by the amazing texture of the crust - crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside. The grilled flavor really adds something special to the pizza. Where in Canada did you travel?

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  2. Hi! thanks for the comment! I travelled back home to the west coast, and I also spent some time with my brother in Quebec, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia.
    Totally agree with the pizza. Love crunchy thin crust!

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  3. Yum. I must admit. I am a huge fan of your site and this is one of my favorites things to grill.

    My husband and I make a bunch of individual pizza and let them choose their topping and then shut the grill...Let it ooze. Yum.

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  4. I've always heard of grilled pizza but never really knew what exactly to do for it. This sounds like such a good idea, I'm definitly going to have to try it!

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  5. I need to try grilling the dough, I'm very curious to see how it comes out. Your grilled pizza looks really tasty too

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  6. Your pizza looks absolutely wonderful. I found out about grilling pizza when I was forced to grill everything after hurricane Charley. Due to the circumstances that one was not home made, but my family was impressed with the flavor and crisp crust the grilling provided. Funny how bad things turn out good things.

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  7. Hi,
    Like you I too love home cooking recipes because everything is served their with a dash of love.
    I love your grilled pizza recipe it is easy to cook and yummy to taste.
    Keep sharing.
    Love always.

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  8. That looks fabulous, I love a good veggie pizza!

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    ReplyDelete
  10. never thought about grilling inside. good concept.

    ReplyDelete