Grilled Pizza

The pizza I had in Italy was by far the most delicious pizza I've ever had in my life. Italian pizza is very different than the kind of pizza we have in America. The crust is very very thin and they keep the toppings very simple. There isn't any pepperoni, they usually just have a variation of salami, mozzarella, sauce, basil, olives and anchovies as toppings. The pizza is usually cooked in a wood fire oven and the closest thing most of us have to that is a BBQ. I found this recipe for thin crust grilled pizza and it's the closest to Italian pizza that I've been able to make. I got it from FoodNetwork and only used the crust part of the recipe and used my own toppings.

Prep Time: 25 min   Cook Time: 10 min   Total Time: 35 min

Grilled Pizza

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup warm tap water
• 1 1/2 teaspoons dry yeast
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Directions

In a small bowl add the warm (this activates the yeast. If the water is too hot the yeast will die and if the water is too cold the yeast will not activate) tap water add the dry yeast and the sugar and stir to combine. Let sit for 15 minutes. The top of the water will bubble and it will smell very yeasty, this is what you want.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour and the salt. Make a well in the center of the flour and add the olive oil and the yeast/water mixture. Using a fork gradually stir the flour into the yeast/water mix. Once most of the flour has combined, turn the dough out to a smooth clean work surface and use your hands to knead the dough to a smooth consistency.

Return the dough to the mixing bowl, cover with plastic wrap and set in a warm place for at least 1 hour or until the dough has doubled in size.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F and preheat grill to medium-high heat.

My Modifications

This recipe uses an indoor grill but my outdoor BBQ worked great. You can make the crust thicker if you want, just turn the heat down a little and let the crust cook longer. I brushed both sides with olive oil and cooked the crust on the first side for about 5 minutes. Then I flipped it and added a thin layer of store bought pizza sauce, thinly sliced mozzarella from a ball of fresh mozzarella, some salami and freshly grated parmesan. I cooked it for another 5 minutes with the lid shut so the cheese could melt. It's really important to check on it a lot because it can burn easily. I prefer the pizza to have a little bit of char on the edges, but that's just my personal preference. The ball of fresh mozzarella is SO MUCH better than the shredded stuff and melts beautifully. Another great grilled pizza recipe I've used is Alton Brown's, it just takes longer. For his pizza sauce, he simply puts sliced tomatoes and mushes them up once they've gotten soft, it's really really good!