Grilled Pizza!

Saturday was a great day for grilling, but Becka and I couldn't decide what we were hungry for - we both wanted something vegetarian. I had procured some arugula, spring onions, and squash at the farmers market earlier that day, and we finally decided to grill a pizza; and it was amazing! We gathered a ton of fresh produce and piled it on: Arugula and Basil Pesto, Fresh Tomatoes, Sun Dried Tomatoes, Spring Onions, Cremini Mushrooms, Grilled Yellow Squash, Arugula Leaves, Fresh Red Chilies, Garlic, Mozzarella, and Parmigiano Reggiano Stravecchio.

First, you'll need to make a crust. I use the Italian Bread recipe adapted from Wayne Gisslen's Professional Baking, but you can use any recipe you want.

Pizza Dough (yields about 6, 8" pizzas)

1 lb. Water (warm)
.25 oz. Instant Yeast
1 lb. 12 oz. Bread Flour
.5 oz. Salt
.13 oz. Honey (or malt syrup)
.63 oz. Olive Oil
.25 oz. Sugar

Use the straight dough mixing method (everything goes into the bowl at once). Mix on second speed for 8-10 minutes until the gluten is properly developed. You'll know it's correct when you can take a small piece of dough and stretch it so thin that you can see through it before it rips. Ferment for 1.5 hours at 80ºF, or 2 hours at 75ºF. Punch down, and remove from the bowl. Divide into six portions, and roll out into rounds.

Next, prepare your grill so that all the coals are on one side, leaving the opposite side empty. Immediately after rolling out, grill the rounds over high heat (the side the coals are on) for about 1-2 minutes on each side. At this point, you have to work quickly to maximize the life of your coals. You may want to add more coals at this point.

After the pizzas are assembled, place as many as will fit back on the grill. This time you will want to put them on the indirect side (the side without the coals). Cook with the lid closed for 5-10 minutes or until done. You will probably want to use a pizza peel or a large spatula for this. For a crisper crust, slide the pizzas over direct heat until they are nicely browned.

Notes: It's important not to ferment this bread twice, which I did by accident. I didn't have the grill lit in time, and my dough rose a second time in the bowl which meant that it didn't have enough juice to rise correctly on the grill. The result: slightly dense dough. It was still delicious, however! If you need to buy some time, you can refrigerate the dough to retard it. Also, prep and organize all your toppings first, so that assembly is as fast as possible.

Also, instant yeast can be found at Gordon Food Service, and is very inexpensive. You don't need to bloom it in water like active dry yeast - just add it in with the dry ingredients. You can, however, bloom it in warm water to speed things up; and since it's alive, store it tightly sealed in the refrigerator.

Enjoy!