Carolyn was here for a visit earlier this week. On night one, I made my Pistachio Chicken with roasted veg and some fruit. When I asked her what I should make on night two, she suggested grilled pizza. When my mom is visiting, she almost always requests grilled pizza. It was the perfect night for it!
After a quick run through of the ingredients we’d need, we stopped at the store before picking the little guy up from daycare. Once home, I gave C the task of stretching the pizza dough, a task I really hate doing (don’t as me why).
I had sliced an onion and cooked it down in a little butter so it got caramelized and delicious. If you have time and like onions, I highly suggest doing this. It gives your pizza another dimension you can’t normally get otherwise.
After the onions were cooked and the pizza dough stretched, we prepped the other ingredients. If I can give you one piece of advice when making grilled pizza, it’s to have your ingredients ready to go before you step foot outside. I also suggest using white dough as opposed to wheat, but that’s me. I try to use whole wheat ingredients when I can, but honestly the white is just better!
So, when your dough is stretched, your ingredients prepped, and your grill is preheated, you’re ready to start. I have made the pizza two ways: taking all the ingredients outside and doing the entire process out there and just taking the dough outside, then bringing it back in once it’s partially cooked. In my opinion, the second way works better.
I take the dough outside with a little dish of olive oil. Then I brush the dough with the oil and put it, oil side down, on the grill. Cook the dough until it’s slightly done and the lines from the grill are golden brown. Be sure not to over cook the dough. It will burn quickly.
Once the dough is cooked, take it off the heat and bring it inside. Add your desired toppings. That night, we made four different pizzas:
Jeff’s pizza-pizza sauce, large pepperoni, proscuitto, thin sliced tomatoes, basil pesto, crushed red pepper flake, parmesan cheese, thin sliced fresh mozzarella, and sun-dried tomatoes.
My traditional style pizza-pizza sauce, large pepperoni, proscuitto, caramelized onions, basil pesto, sun-dried tomatoes, parmesan cheese, torn basil leaves, and thin sliced fresh mozzarella.
Jeff and I typically have very similar pizzas as you can see.
Margherita pizza-very traditional with tomato, torn basil leaves, and fresh mozzarella. We didn’t put pizza sauce on this one and I was kind of regretting it. I think we did put pesto on it.
Peach & Proscuitto pizza-since it’s peach season, C and I wanted to try something with peaches.
We did thin sliced peaches, proscuitto, a bit of goat cheese, a little mozzarella, and a drizzle of the Balsamic Glaze I picked up from Trader Joe’s the last time I was there. YUM! C and I decided it was the best one of all of them.
This stuff is seriously good. They suggest you “Use it on salads, as a drizzle over grilled meat and fish, or as a dessert topping for fresh, summertime berries or vanilla ice cream.”
If you’ve never tried grilled pizza, you need to. It’s delicious and so much better than oven baked. The fire gives the crust a nice flavor and crunchy texture. Jeff and I grill pizza probably once every couple weeks in the summer. It’s the perfect dinner!
