Grilled Pizza

Grilled pizza. Why not?

Everybody has a few friends that are picky eaters. Maybe they don't eat meat. Or vegetables. Or anchovies. Whatever it is they don't like, it makes it tough to have a meal together sometimes. A good solution: individual pizzas. 

The problem with doing individual pizzas in the summer is it makes the kitchen ridiculously hot. So we started taking the party outside to the once gas, now charcoal grill. I always prefer to cook outside if I can, and the grill has an added advantage: heat. You can do just fine in an oven, especially doing deep dish, but for a great crust, it is hard to beat fire. 

I wish I could remember exactly where I got this recipe. I've had it written on a scrap of paper for a while now. It's unusual because it uses ice-cold water. This sees counter intuitive, especially for a yeast crust, but it works out fabulously. I was talking to a friend of mine, a real, honest-to-good chef, and the best we could come up with was that it keeps the dough from developing as much gluten and also slows the rise of the yeast. The dough rises quite a bit on the grill, which gives it a unique texture: crusty on the outside, chewy but airy on the inside. It'll hold up to pretty much anything you care to load it down with, so get creative with the toppings (the one pictured has mornay, spinach, some of my friend Pat's home-canned chicken, and a sprinkle of mozzarella).

Grilled Pizza

5 Cups flour 

1 3/4 tsp salt

1 tsp yeast

1/4 cup olive oil

1 3/4 cup ice water

You can do this in the stand mixer and save yourself some work, but it is pretty easy to do by hand in a large bowl. No need to bloom the yeast, though I'd mix it with the water first. From there, just combine everything, starting with about 4 cups of the flour. Depending on the flour, the humidity, and how well you measure, you might need the whole 5 cups, you might not (you might even need a little more). You'll know it is ready when the dough is still slightly moist but not sticky. It is better to err on the side of a little too much flour, just so the dough holds up on the grill.

Let the dough rest while you get the grill ready. 30 minutes is plenty, but I've left it for upwards of 90 with no problems. I prefer a charcoal grill, but whatever you use, make sure it is plenty hot. The dough will be fine so long as you don't have the grates too close to the fire. The one above was done on a Green Egg, which was nice because the fire is fairly low in the grill. My grill has about a four inch drop to the coals, and it works just fine. 

When you are ready to grill, throw a little cornmeal down on the counter, grab a hunk of dough, and roll it out to about 1/4-1/2 inch thick. The size and shape of the dough doesn't matter, so long as it will fit on the grill. I did the circles above for the Egg, but I've done long ovals for my rectangular grill - these actually looked better and were easier to cut for sharing. 

Once the dough is ready and the grill is hot, you are ready to cook. Each side should take 5-8 minutes, depending on your grill. No need to do anything special, just put he flattened dough on the grates and close the lid. Once the bottom has crisped up and taken a nice bit of color, flip the dough and dress it however you want. The second side won't take quite as long, but there is a pretty wide margin of error.

The most important thing to consider with toppings is how you want them to cook, if at all. If you want something like sausage or chicken, you'll need to cook that ahead of time. Onions aren't going to soften up much in the few minutes they are on the grill, which may or may no be desirable. Herbs and spinach will cook down enough to be soft but that's about it. Tomatoes will get hot but not mushy, especially if you keep the lid open for part of the cooking time. Cheese will melt but you won't really get it to brown up.