Pizza on the Grill
Funny story, I don’t remember how long ago, but my husband decided he wanted to grill a pizza for dinner. I had faith that my Enneagram 1, perfectionist husband who can recite tax law and financial details from memory read a recipe on how to do this and that’s why he was so motivated to cook. I was very wrong and before I know it, he has ruined a pizza pan of mine, made charcoal out of a frozen pizza and almost set the grill on fire.
Needless to say, we went out for dinner that night (Lucca Grill to save the day!).
Fast forward to this year, and I’m looking around for recipes I can do when it’s so hot, I’m not motivated to cook. I start coming across pizzas on the grill recipes and decide to try my hand at this.
I have tinkered with this method several times and have found a rhythm with the process I feel confident sharing with you today.
More than anything, you’re looking to get the base set up before you add the toppings. So here are a few tips I have found:
1. It helps to know your grill. When you’re comfortable with the heating element, it makes a difference.
2. Low and slow. I like to keep my grill closer to 350 when cooking pizza. I feel like I have more control over it. And you’re not really adding on much more time, maybe a couple minutes.
3. 2 minutes can make or break your pizza. When you think your dough is close, don’t walk away, stay with it. You’re looking for that nice light brown on the bottom before transferring it to the grill grates.
4. Make sure your dough is done before adding toppings. Any shine on the top edges means the dough isn’t done. Sometimes my dough gets an air bubble in the middle before adding the toppings, don’t pop it, let it work its magic. You want a dullness on the top of the dough and a light brown on the bottom before removing it from the stone.
I’ve used this method with traditional pizza sauce, no sauce, BBQ sauce and even refried beans on the base. It all worked! Your brief patience will be to your benefit! Enjoy!
Pizza on the Grill
Use this method to make all sorts of pizzas on your grill! It's very easy and as fast as cooking a frozen one in the oven.
Ingredients
- Mama Cozzi's Pizza Dough from Aldi (or any store-bought kind you prefer)
- Cornmeal or Jiffy Corn Muffin Mix
- Olive oil
- Your preferred toppings
Instructions
- Grill (we use gas)
- Pizza stone
- Spatula
- Pizza cutter
- Turn on your grill to between 350-400 degrees Fahrenheit. Let it warm up at this temp for about 5 minutes
- Put the pizza stone on the grill to heat up. About 5 minutes.
- Sprinkle your corn meal on the stone. Stretch out the dough to your preferred size. Lay over the cornmeal. It's ok to adjust it once its down.
- IMPORTANT: Brush olive oil over the top. I use my hands, but you can be fancy with a brush.
- Close grill and cook for 5-7 minutes. You want the underside to have some light brown color, you also want to see the edges and top dull a bit. If you're not sure, close the lid for 2 more minutes. It's harder to burn it on the stone than when it's directly on the grill.
- To add the toppings: Leave the dough on the stone as you add the toppings.Once everything has been added, use your spatula to loosen the pizza dough from the stone and lift one edge to slide the stone out from under it. The pizza will now be directly on the grill grates. Set the stone off to the side to use again.
- Close the oven and cook for 5-7 minutes, checking the bottom every 3 minutes. You're looking for the bottom to be done (not burnt) and the toppings to be cooked through.
- Once the pizza is done, shut off the heat to the grill, lift one edge of the pizza to slide the stone back underneath to cut the pizza.
- Serve and enjoy!
