Pizza on the Grill

I’m here in Tennessee once again visiting with my family. My days have been full of wine, jelly, kids, creeks, and some great Blues music.It has also been full of heat.

It’s hotter ‘an a match! – that’s what my brother would tell you. It’s been in the upper 90’s all week and other than a couple hot dogs or grilled cheese sandwiches, we have not wanted to heat up the kitchen at all. Instead, we have planned all of our dinner’s around Daddy’s “Bubba Keg”, which is a smoker/grill that my Dad has a close personal relationship with. He regularly gets in arguments with my brother and husband about which is better; his Bubba Keg or their Ugly Drum Smokers. It’s entertaining to watch.

Anyway, I figured that this week was a perfect time to try out pizza on the grill. I have been wanting to try it for a while, but really didn’t want my first time trying it out to be done with a couple of toddlers running around screaming, “I want to hold!!”, or “I want juice!”, or “Mommmmmmyyy!!”

Fire and needy toddlers are not a good combo.

Anyway, back to the pizza. I made a quick and simple dough that took about an hour to get ready. I stretched it out nice and thin and threw it on a hot, well oiled grill. What I ended up with was the tastiest pizza I have every made. The crust was perfect. It was crisp and golden brown. The toppings where perfectly melted. And the whole process was much easier than I would have ever thought. I will be making all of my pizzas this way from now on. I encourage you to give it a try yourself. I think you will be pleasantly surprised.

Don’t forget to enter the giveaway for a free case of Garofalo Pasta!

Pizza Dough:
1 package of yeast
2 cups of warm water ( 105 degrees)
1 T salt
1/4 c. extra virgin olive oil
4 1/4 c. AP Flour

Toppings for your pie are up to you!

For the dough, first mix together yeast, water, oil and salt and let stand for 5 minutes.

Sift the flour and then gradually add it to the yeast mixture. Stir until a dough forms, then knead until the dough is soft and pliable. You can do this with a stand mixer or ( if your Mom doesn’t have a stand mixer) by hand.
Place the dough into an oiled bowl and let rise until doubled, 45 minutes – 1 hour.

Punch down the dough and divide in half. Shape each half into a disc. Stretch each disc out to the size crust that you want for your pizza. Just make sure it will fit on your grill.

Heat up your grill to about 450 – 500 degrees. With an oiled rag, rub the grates with oil.

Then lay your dough out on the the grill and close the lid.

Wait until the temperature gets back up to 400 before you flip your pizza, about 5 minutes.
Flip your pizza and quickly add your toppings.

Close the lid and wait until your toppings are nice and bubbly before you pull it off the grill.
Pull it off onto a sheet pan and cut and eat!