How To Grill Pizza

How many of you have heard of grilled pizza?  Quite a few recipes have been floating around the blogosphere lately and I decided it was high time to jump on the wagon.  And I'm glad I did!  Grilling the pizza dough takes it to the next level--this was the best pizza dough I've ever made!

I've seen 2 ways to grill pizza; I'll share both of them with you, really they're quite similar.  However, I prefer the results of one way over the other.  You'll need a stiffer dough for grilling, as the dough doesn't go on a pan.  My go-to dough recipe was perfect.

You will need:
2-1/4 teaspoons yeast
1-3/8 cups water, 110 degrees
3 Tablespoons olive oil
3/4 teaspoon salt
4 cups flour

1.  Sprinkle yeast into a large mixing bowl (or the bowl of your stand mixer) and pour water over it.  Allow it to sit for at least 5 minutes, until yeast begins to bubble.

2.  Stir in olive oil, salt, and flour and mix until a dough forms.

3.  Knead until dough is smooth and elastic, about 8-10 minutes by hand.  You can also use your stand mixer, it will take about 6 minutes.

4. Form the dough into a ball and place in an oiled bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let it rise until doubled, about 1.5 to 2 hours.*

5. Deflate dough by punching down and knead for about 5 minutes. Allow the dough to rest before dividing it into 2 pieces (or 4 if you're making personal size pizzas).*

6.  Place the dough on a floured surface and form the pizza crust.  Remember that you're grilling the pizza crust, so you don't wait it to be so thin it will burn right away or so large that you can't easily move it.  

Now it's time to grill!

First prepare your grill:  

I always turn the flames to high to get it hot and then when I put the dough on, I lower the heat to medium.  Our grill has a thermometer so I let it get up to 350 degrees.  Before grilling, grease the grates of your grill using a vegetable oil soaked paper towel.

Next, place each pizza round on the grill.  Cover the grill and let the dough cook for about 3 minutes.  

Open the grill and your pizza dough should be bubbled up and look something like this:

Now this is where you can choose which route to take.  If you'd like, you can flip your pizza dough over and cook the other side.  Or, you can choose to just grill one side of the pizza.

If you choose to flip the dough, flip let the other side cook for an additional 3 minutes.  Remove from grill and add  your choice of toppings.  Return to the grill, cover, and cook on lower heat until the toppings are warmed (about 2 more minutes).

If you decide not to flip the dough, after the original 3 minutes of cooking, reduce the grill heat to low and continue to cook for 2 more minutes.  Add your toppings and return to the grill until the toppings are warmed through, another 2 minutes.  Keep a close eye on your dough so it doesn't burn!

I prefer to grill both sides of the pizza as it really infuses both sides of the crust with the delicious grilled flavor. I found that grilling just one side of the crust led to burned crust in order to cook the dough all the way through.  Though grilling both sides causes you to lose the puffy edges created by grilling just one side (the air bubbles pop when you flip it over), which may lead to more spilled toppings, I've found the added flavor is totally worth it!

*I would like to note here that after the dough has risen I'll often put it in a ziploc bag and store it in the fridge for a few days (up to a month) before using it.  Mike and I both think the flavor is much better after the dough sits for a while.  Or, we quite often make personal sized pizzas by dividing the dough into 4 balls.  We'll use 2 that night and save the rest in the fridge for another time.

Come back tomorrow for one of my favorite ways to top a grilled pizza!