What could be better than a home-baked pizza? A grilled pizza. That’s right, grilled–in the back yard, on an ordinary covered grill, without special equipment.
Encouraged by cookbooks and magazines that promise success, we fired up the grills and, with a little trial and error, achieved delicious results. We used dough made from scratch, refrigerator pizza dough and frozen bread dough to make crusts. We experimented with toppings. And we grilled over charcoal and two gas grills.
Here’s what you need to know to make great pizza outdoors.
The basics
– Make individual pizzas: Individual pizzas (4 to 6 inches in diameter) are easier to grill than large pizzas . Large pizzas (12 to 16 inches) can be prepared successfully if you use a vegetable grill rack but they don’t cook as evenly as large pizzas.
– Recipes are guides, not formulas: A recipe may direct you to cook at medium heat for 5 minutes, but the grill may deliver perfect results in 2 minutes or less. If you are vigilant with the first pizza, you’ll figure out how to adapt the recipe instructions for your particular grill.
– Forming the pizzas: Divide the dough into balls. Roll out on a lightly floured surface to make an 1/8-inch-thick disk. Or, flatten the dough into a thicker disk and stretch it by hand until it is 1/8-inch thick. Grilled pizzas need not be perfectly round. These pizza crusts will look more like flatbreads. Brush top of dough lightly with olive oil before grilling. (This is the side you’ll grill first.)
– Be organized: Keep tools and trays handy. Because pizzas cook quickly, there may not be time to run inside for equipment. Grate or crumble cheeses in advance, shape pizzas ahead of time and have sauces and other toppings ready so that you don’t waste precious minutes in the middle of the operation. Pizzas get topped after one side is grilled. .
Cooking tips
– Grill racks: Be sure the grill rack is clean before heating it. Many recipes call for oiling the grill racks before heating the grill, but we found this unnecessary. That may be because we brushed the pizza dough lightly with oil before grilling.
– Gas grills: Most recipes call for grilling over medium heat; however, this could be too hot, depending on the grill. (We burned the first pizza over medium heat on one gas grill.) Be sure to cover the grill as you cook. Generally, our pizzas cooked over low gas heat for about 5 minutes per side. The best judge of doneness is appearance (see below).
– Charcoal grills: Cooking with charcoal is a bit more challenging. Arrange the coals so that you have two temperature zones on the grill: Scatter the coals heavily on one side of the grill and sparsely on the other. If any topping ingredients need to be grilled, cook them first, while the coals are at their hottest and may be too hot for grilling the dough. Place the pizza dough on the hotter side of the grill, cover and check after 1 or 2 minutes; pizza cooks quickly over hot coals.
If at any point the pizzas are cooking too quickly, move them to the cooler side of the grill.
– Adding toppings: After cooking the first side, transfer the crust to a platter. Brush the uncooked side with olive oil. Flip the pizza so that the cooked side is on top. Arrange toppings on the cooked side, then return pizzas to grill, cover and cook until the underside is lightly browned. The cheese will melt, and the toppings will heat up as the bottom cooks.
– Determining doneness: Let appearance be your guide, because cooking times vary. The crust is done when it is golden or lightly browned and grill marks appear. This could take 1 1/2 to 5 minutes per side, depending on the grill. Don’t expect an evenly colored crust–you may even have some singed spots. The top will puff up with air as the bottom crust cooks. Use tongs to peek at the underside of the crust and to remove the pizza from the grill or you will burn your fingers..
Crusts
– Refrigerator dough: This is sold in the supermarket refrigerator case next to the crescent roll and biscuit doughs. If you like a thick-crust pizza, this is the easiest dough to use because you won’t have to thin it with a rolling pin or shape it. Just cut the dough into fourths.
If you prefer a thin crust, roll dough out to 1/8-inch thickness on a lightly floured surface, and cut into 4- to 6-inch squares. (Alternatively, you can cut into 4-inch square pieces, then roll out each pizza individually.) This dough won’t yield a crust as thin and crispy as dough made from scratch, but it still turns out a good pizza.
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– Frozen bread dough: Although it makes a good thick-crust pizza, it’s not a good choice for thin-crust aficionados because it rises too much. Boboli: Ready-made crusts are an emergency staple, so we tested them too. Because they are already cooked, they don’t work as well as raw dough. We used the thin-crust, which is as thick as most thick-crust takeout pizzas, with mixed results.
From scratch: This sounds daunting, but actually is easy, especially if you use a recipe for a quick-rising crust made with rapid-rise yeast. (See recipe.)
BROCCOLI-GORGONZOLA PIZZA
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Grilling time: 10 minutes
Yield: 6 individual-size pizzas
Adapted from “The Vegetarian Grill,” by Andrea Chesman.
1 recipe quick-rise pizza dough, see recipe
1 pound broccoli
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon dried thyme
2-4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
8 ounces Gorgonzola cheese, room temperature, softened with a fork
1/2 cup toasted pine nuts, see note
1. Prepare medium-hot fire in grill. Set lightly oiled grill rack over fire.
2. Cut broccoli into stalks, then halve each stalk lengthwise. Combine with garlic, thyme and oil; toss to coat. Grill broccoli, turning frequently, until tender and grill-marked, about 5-8 minutes. Chop finely.
3. Brush each pizza round with oil; grill until surface is bubbly and bottom is browned, about 2-3 minutes. Brush tops with oil. With pair of tongs, lift crust off grill and invert onto baking sheet.
4. Divide Gorgonzola among 6 crusts. Divide broccoli and pine nuts among crusts. Return pizzas to grill, and cook until bottom is browned, 1 1/2 to 2 minutes more. Remove to plates and serve.
Test kitchen note: To toast pine nuts, place in dry skillet over medium heat, stirring occasionally until fragrant and barely colored.
Nutrition information per serving:
Calories ………… 545 Fat ……….. 28 g Saturated fat .. 10 g
% calories from fat .. 45 Cholesterol .. 35 mg Sodium ….. 1,480 mg
Carbohydrates …… 55 g Protein ……. 21 g Fiber ……… 4.8 g
QUICK-RISE PIZZA DOUGH
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Rising time: 30 minutes
Yield: Crusts for 6 individual-size pizzas
Adapted from “The Vegetarian Grill,” by Andrea Chesman.
3 cups flour
1 package quick-rising yeast
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 cup water
2-4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1. Combine flour, yeast, salt and sugar in food processor fitted with dough blade. Process to mix.
2. Combine water and 2 tablespoons of the oil in small saucepan or microwave-safe container. Heat until instant-read thermometer reads 125-130 degrees.
3. With food processor running, slowly pour in heated water mixture; process until dough forms into ball. Continue processing 1 minute or more to knead dough. Turn onto lightly floured surface, cover with plastic wrap and let rise 30 minutes.
4. Divide dough into 6 balls. On floured work surface, roll out each ball into circle about 6 inches in diameter and about 1/8 -inch thick. Brush both sides with olive oil. Dough is ready to grill or bake.
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Nutrition information per serving:
Calories ………… 270 Fat ……….. 5 g Saturated fat .. 0.7 g
% calories from fat .. 17 Cholesterol .. 0 mg Sodium …….. 780 mg
Carbohydrates …… 48 g Protein ……. 7 g Fiber ………. 1.9 g
TOMATO AND FENNEL PIZZA
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Grilling time: About 11 minutes
Yield: 4 individual-size pizzas
1 bunch fennel, top trimmed off, fronds reserved
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 individual-size dough crusts, made from scratch, see recipe, or refrigerated dough
1 1/3 cups drained ricotta cheese 2 large, ripe tomatoes, each cut into 6 thin slices
Salt, freshly ground pepper
1. Prepare grill. Brush fennel very lightly with some of the olive oil; grill 4-5 minutes, turning occasionally. Remove; slice thin.
2. Brush bottoms of crust rounds lightly with oil; place on grill 2-3 minutes, or until top bubbles slightly. While grilling, brush top lightly with olive oil.
3. Place crusts, grilled side up, on baking sheet. Divide ricotta among crusts. Top each crust with 3 tomato slices, then fennel. Return to grill; cook until done; 5 minutes. Garnish with fennel fronds.
Nutrition information per serving:
Calories ………… 620 Fat ……….. 22 g Saturated fat .. 6 g
% calories from fat .. 32 Cholesterol .. 25 mg Sodium …. 1,310 mg
Carbohydrates …… 86 g Protein ……. 21 g Fiber ………. 6 g