Bar-b-qued Pizza

A couple of weeks ago, I posted a grilled pizza in my What I Ate Wednesday post.  I've being making grilled pizza for a few years now and it has become a summer time staple at our house.

These pizzas are perfect for families or groups with different topping preferences as each pizza can easily be customised.  Here are a few tips that make grilled pizza much easier to prepare that I've picked up.

You can either buy pre-made dough or make your own.  If you have a bread machine you can pre-program the machine to have the dough ready for when you get home from work - I do this a lot.  I've included my favourite recipe for pizza dough.

I like grilled vegetables on my pizza and included instructions, but you can feel free to use whatever toppings you like.

So onto the tips...

1 - Divide and shape your dough in the kitchen before you head out to the grill. 

2 - Lightly coat your dough with oil.  Unless you have a very well seasoned grill, your pizza dough will stick to the grill and you will have a giant mess and you will probably be cursing me for suggesting to place uncooked dough on the bar-b-que racks.

3 - Have all of your toppings ready before you place your dough on the racks.  The dough cooks quickly and your life will be much easier if you aren't running inside on out grabbing ingredients.  Plus you will feel a bit like a cooking show host with all your little prep bowls at the ready... or is that just my daydream.

4 - Once you're ready to grill, make sure you have plenty of space between the individual pizzas to flip and to ensure the edges of your dough are cooked.

5 - After you've flipped the pizza dough so the cooked side is up, move quickly.  It doesn't take long to cook the bottom and you run the risk of burning the dough.  Once the toppings are on, closed the lid so your bar-b-que heats like an oven.

6 - Enjoy your efforts - when it comes to cooking in the summer, there is nothing I enjoy more than being outside.

Bar-b-qued Pizza

by Denise Boyd Dunlop

Prep Time: 1 1/2 hours if making your own

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Keywords: grill entree

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Ingredients (serves 6-8)

For the dough

• 1 1/2 cups water
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt
• 4 1/4 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons yeast

For the Toppings

Grilled Veggies

• 1/2 red pepper chopped
• 1/2 sweet onion chopped
• 1/2 cup mushrooms halved
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• juice from 1/2 lemon
• shredded mozzarella cheese
• crumbled feta cheese
• tomato sauce

Instructions

For the the dough

Place the dough ingredients in the order given into your bread machine. Select the dough setting. When dough is finished remove from bread machine, lightly coat with olive oil and place in a bowl, let rest for 15 minutes.

For the Grilled Vegetables

Preheat grill and grill basket to 450 degrees. Toss vegetables, olive oil, salt and lemon juice in a bowl. Pour vegetables into basket and spread evenly. Stir vegetables every 2-5 minutes closing lid on grill each time. Remove from heat once the vegetables are softened and beginning to brown at the edges - about 7-10 minutes.

To make the pizza

Preheat bar-b-que to 450. Shape the dough into individual pizzas, 6 - 8 small disks. Make sure that each piece is lightly coated with oil to ensure the dough does not stick to the grill. Place dough directly on the grill and close the bar-b-que lid. Once the bottom of the dough has cooked - about 5 minutes, flip each pizza over so the uncooked side is facing the coals.

Working quickly, spread the sauce on the cooked side of the dough. Add toppings and close the bar-b-que lid. Remove from heat once the bottom of the pizza is cooked and the cheese has melted - about 5 minutes.

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