Monday, August 9, 2010

Grilled Pizza, Take Two

A few weeks ago, I tried to make grilled pizza. I love making pizza at home. I love the whole bit, from making my own dough and choosing my own toppings to eating it fresh from the oven. I also love that Alex and I can each make our own pizzas and top them however we choose. In the summer, though, it’s just too hot to turn on the oven. Grilled pizza is a great alternative.

If you recall, the first grilled pizza I made got a little burnt on the bottom because I cooked the crust first, then brought it in to top it, and then returned it to the grill to heat the toppings. I thought that it would be better to top the raw dough and just grill it once.

008 Alex topping his pizza, and mine up front with homemade salsa, seasoned black beans, sautéed mushrooms, and Follow Your Heart Monterey Jack.

I transported the pizzas to the grill on an old cookie sheet and attempted to lift and slide them onto the heat. Don’t try this at home! My beautiful pizza fell apart and I lost some of my tasty toppings to the flames. We had better luck with Alex’s, probably because my dough was getting soggy from the tomatoes while he was still building his. 016

The pizza that wasn’t sacrificed to the flames was really good, though. It’s not pretty, but it tasted delicious. Hey, at least the bottom crust didn’t burn. The part that remained on the grill cooked nicely, leaving a crisp crust and I’m very happy with my choice of toppings.

010 No, this is not half-eaten pizza. This is what I salvaged during the pizza tear of 2010.

I did have to go out to the grill after supper to scrape away my charred toppings. Next time I’ll either grill the crust for a shorter time, or I’ll try to get some sort of grill-safe pizza stone for transport. Maybe both. Yes, this is something I’m going to do until I get it right!

7 comments:

  1. Why did it have to be your pizza that fell apart??? Why couldn't it have been Alex's????? Life sucks sometimes.

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  2. Wow, grilled pizza? Now, that's adventurous! I love the mile high toppings!

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  3. Your pizza topping combo sounds really good, bummer that it fell apart...but sounds like it tasted great and you enjoyed it anyway, which is the important thing.

    I'll stay tuned for more tips on grilling pizza...I've never tried it, but would like to.

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  4. Aw man. I'm sorry. I think I would have cried a little. I get really sad when I lose food. This morning, I spilled a bowl of watermelon that I'd brought to work for a snack, and now I'm so sad and watermelon-less. :-( I commend you for trying again and again til you get it right though!

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  5. The good news is I only lost about a quarter of my well-topped (overly topped?) pizza and the rest was edible. I hate losing food to mistakes like drops or burns, but at least this fed me!

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  6. Hi, you should grill one side of the pizza without topping first (don't forget to oil the grill), then when you flip it, you load up the toppings on the grilled part while the other side cooks. It's really good and shouldn't take too long.

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  7. Hi! I just found your blog and I think it's great. You should totally get a wooden pizza peel, btw. I grill pizza too, and the peel+cornmeal makes everything much easier!

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