Grilled Pizza

Recently I was working out at the gym and saw Paula Deen doing something I previously would have thought impossible. She was making pizza, all the way from the dough stage to the slicing stage, on the grill. (Totally random side note: Why do they play the Food Network at the gym? As if it's not hard enough to be there in the first place. Seriously.)

Intrigued, I decided to try it. I actually decided to try it on a night when we were having company for dinner, which in retrospect was probably a dumb idea. But it worked! It worked so well I never want to cook pizza in the oven again. And it was so easy--no fuss, no mess, just delicious, perfect pizza.

Alrighty. So first things first: Make the dough, or buy some pre-made from the grocery store, or from Sam's Club, or wherever you like to buy it. When I actually plan ahead I make my own, because I have the most wondiferous pizza dough recipe EVER, which I got from this great little cookbook, which was published by my favorite pizza chain EVER, the California Pizza Kitchen.

(Disclaimer: I don't think I'll get in trouble for re-posting the recipe here, since I am giving credit where credit is due and since it's unlikely that all two readers of this blog are going to infringe on the recipe to such an extent as to affect CPK's net profits. And if I do get in trouble, I'm a lawyer so I can handle it. Right? Right.)

Behold ye wondiferous pizza dough recipe:

California Pizza Kitchen's Pizza Crust

1 t. active dry yeast
1/2 c. + 1 T. warm water
1 1/2 c. flour
2 t. sugar
1 t. salt
1 T. olive oil

Dissolve yeast in warm water and set aside for 5-10 minutes. Combine all other ingredients in mixing bowl and add yeast mixture. (Don't add the salt to the yeast mixture directly.) Mix 2-3 minutes on slow speed with paddle attachment (KitchenAid, Bosch, or similar mixer works great) until smooth and elastic. Use 1 t. of extra olive oil to coat dough and the inside of a medium-sized bowl. Seal loosely with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. Two hours before baking, divide dough in half and roll into 3 or 4 separate balls. Place in a large casserole dish and let rise for 2 hours, until doubled.

* You don't HAVE to let it rise overnight in the frig. I have successfully thrown this together in the morning and left it rising on the counter all day before making the pizzas. It's a wonderfully versatile recipe. Just remember, the more times you let it rise, the better the crust. (Thrice, as the recipe suggests, is best.)

** You can substitute whole wheat flour for the white flour and 5 t. of honey for the sugar if you want to make CPK's signature "honey wheat" crust--which is to die for, of course.

*** This recipe makes enough for 2 standard size pizzas or 4 personal size (6-8 in.) ones.

**** If you're having company, preheat your oven to 200-250 degrees and pop the pizzas in as they finish grilling. That way they stay warm without getting soggy and they'll be ready to serve all at once.

*****I could keep doing this asterisk thing all day if I wanted to. But I won't. ;)

So once the dough has been mixed up and has risen thrice (I like that word--can you tell?), then comes the fun part.

Heat an outdoor grill to high heat (I let mine get to about 500 degrees). Spray grate with non-stick cooking spray or rub lightly with oil before heating. Take one of the lumps of dough and stretch it out into a pizza crust with your hands. (The personal size pizza lumps work best.) Start flattening at the edge of the dough ball and work your way inward--this will prevent the pizza from being too thin in the middle and too thick on the edges. When you have the right size, drop the crust onto the oiled grate.

After a few minutes, it should look like this:

As it cooks up, prick the air bubbles with a fork, like this:

Then, when the bottom is nicely browned and crisp, flip the whole crust over with a spatula. Now, quickly add the toppings. I say "quickly" because you won't have much time before the other side of the crust gets pretty crispy. I add sauce, pepperoni . . .

. . . sauteed onions, green peppers and cheese to mine:

Then I close the lid of the grill and let it cook for about 3-5 minutes, until all the cheese is melted.

Now, if I were a good food blogger, I would have a picture of the finished product. But I'm afraid I gobbled this up before remembering to take a picture. My bad. But take my word for it--it was scrumptious!

So, now you will not fear grilled pizza any longer, right? Good. Glad I can make some small difference in the world. ;)