There is something so pure about a margherita pizza – nothing like a little basil and tomato with cheese on grilled flatbread to make dinner special.  I am a big fan of grilling pizzas, and also a big fan of the Food Network show “Good Eats” with Alton Brown - so when I saw the most recent Alton Brown pizza recipe (from “Flat is Beautiful V”) happened to be a grilled margherita pizza, I couldn’t help but give it a try.  Now, I had never made a quality margherita pizza at home.  The flavors never seem quite right when I tried putting it together myself; I now realize it’s probably because I did not marinate or cook the tomatoes first.  I used my usual go-to pizza dough rather than the variety Alton made because…well, who keeps barley malt syrup on hand?  (Actually, we do have it on hand, but it’s specially designated for our upcoming home-brewing adventure, as we’re planning on brewing an apricot IPA in the next few days and my husband would not be happy with me if I used it!)  The recipe is not yet posted on foodnetwork.com, however I was able to find it on a fellow Alton Brown fan’s website.  The key here is the marinating and grilling the tomatoes - the depth of the flavors is much better if you follow this step.  Plus, it would probably be messy if you tried to crush uncooked tomatoes on a grilled pizza crust. 

Grilled Margherita Pizza - adapted from Alton Brown, via Lisa from ‘All About Alton’ 

• 1/2 recipe pizza dough
• olive oil
• 1 large tomato, thickly sliced
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 4-5 basil leaves, julienned
• 1/2 – 3/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1/4 cup asiago cheese

Place tomato, garlic, 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil, salt and red pepper flakes into a bowl and stir to coat the tomatoes.  Let sit for 20 minutes or so as you prepare your crust.  For the crust – first, make sure your pizza dough is at room temperature before you use it!  Place pizza dough on a floured surface and roll to 1/4 inch thickness using a rolling pin.  Make sure to rotate your dough after each pass with the rolling pin so that it does not stick to your surface!  After dough has reached desired thickness, place it onto a floured pizza peel.  Brush with 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil.  Preheat your trusty grill – no pizza stone this time folks!  When your grill has finished preheating, take the pizza peel with dough on it and flip it directly onto the grill – if it sticks a little just give it a nudge with a spatula and it will come off.  At the same time, place the slices of marinated tomato directly onto the grill.  Grill the crust until it starts to form little bubbles as the dough bakes.  Brush with another 1-2 tsp of olive oil, then using the pizza peel, lift it off the grill and flip over.  At this point, the tomatoes should be pretty well cooked through – lift them off the grate and place directly onto the pizza crust, mashing them with the back of your spatula into the crust.  Sprinkle the pizza with the basil, mozarella, and asiago cheeses.  Cook until the cheese melts. 

My husband loves this Barbeque Chicken Pizza – I remember the first time I thought I’d try making this for dinner, it was about the best received meal I ever made for him.  I can’t even remember why I put all these ingredients together – most likely, I was trying to get rid of some leftover chicken breast and here’s what came out.  In addition to being incredibly tasty, it’s also one of those quick dinners that I make on weeknights.  It’s become a regular in my homemade pizza repetoire now. 

I always use homemade pizza dough these days – this recipe, originally from the Mark Bittman “How to Cook Everything” book, has become my go-to recipe.  Unlike store bough pizza dough, it’s soft and so easy to work with – makes shaping a crust a breeze.  Since there weren’t many spices I could envisioning going well with barbeque flavors, I left out the spices this time. 

I love grilling pizzas – it’s really very easy, and the crust comes out crisp and crunchy on the bottom, while the top comes out tender and soft.  (The only thing to be careful of – make sure you don’t let it burn!  Pizza cooks very fast on a grill.)  

Ingredients:

1 recipe Pizza Dough - omitting herbs

1/3 cup barbeque sauce

1/3 cup jarred pasta sauce

1/4 of a red onion, sliced thinly into rings

1 small green pepper, sliced thinly into rings

1 cooked chicken breast, sliced into strips

4oz shredded sharp cheddar cheese

Directions:

Place a pizza stone on your grill and preheat to 400-450 degrees.  Dust a pizza peel liberally with corn meal.  Flatten out the pizza dough to the desired size (mine was about 14 inches) and place on the pizza peel.  Mix together the pasta sauce and barbeque sauce, and spread evenly over the pizza crust.  Distribute the chicken, onion and pepper rings evenly over the pizza.  Sprinkle the shredded cheddar over the pizza.  Slide the pizza onto the pizza stone (use sharp wrist flicking motion – if the pizza peel is dusted well, it should slide off – if you have trouble sliding it off, use a metal spatula to loosen it from the peel)  Bake for about 10-15 minutes – time will vary based on exactly how hot your grill is, make sure to check frequently to ensure the bottom does not burn!  When the pizza appears done (toppings are melted, the dough appears cooked) slide the pizza peel under your pizza and remove from the grill.  (Important: let the stone cool completely before removing it from the grill – we’ve lost our first pizza stone this way!)

Usually my husband and I purchase our Pizza dough at the grocery store, because it seems like a big project to make it ourselves. This week, however, I really really wanted grilled pizza and found us sadly out of dough. So, I decided to take the leap and try making dough myself. I used my go-to cookbook, “How to Cook Everything” by Mark Bittman for a recipe, and set to it!

It turns out it’s actually not nearly as hard as I thought it would be; I used my trusty stand-mixer and the dough nearly made itself. I added some fresh herbs to the dough; this time I chose oregano because I have a small oregano forest growing in our container garden and don’t know what else to do with it. I hear it’s great with rosemary as well!

Ingredients:

1 teaspoon active dry yeast

3 cups (or 14 ounces by weight) of all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting

2 teaspoons kosher salt

1-1 1/4 cups water

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh oregano

Instructions:

1) Combine the yeast, half of the flour, oregano, salt, 2 tablespoons olive oil, and 1 cup water. Blend together until smooth.

2) Gradually mix in the remaining flour a little at a time until the dough is a sticky ball that pulls away from the sides. Knead the dough (either by hand or using the dough-hook for a stand mixer) adding as little extra flour as possible.

3) Place the dough in a bowl greased with the remaining teaspoon of olive oil, cover loosely, and let rise in a warm area for 1-2 hrs. Then top with your favorite toppings, and proceed with baking or grilling!

My husband I love grilling pizza because it’s quick, easy and the topping possibilities are endless. I first made this Southwestern Chicken Grilled Pizza when I was faced with leftover Tomatillo Salsa, Tequila Lime Chicken and lots of fresh cilantro.

Using tomatillo salsa in place of traditional tomato sauce gives this pizza a light, fresh taste. The flavors of the tangy, bright salsa, smokey chicken and mellow caramelized onions blend beautifully. The pizza is full of flavor, but not overly spicy, so it will appeal to a wide variety of palates.

Southwestern Chicken Grilled Pizza

Pizza dough
Corn meal
Olive oil
1/2 large sweet onion, sliced thin
1/4 – 1/2 cup tomatillo salsa (store-bought or homemade)
1 grilled chicken breast, chopped (I used Tequila Lime chicken)
1 cup shredded Mexican cheese
2-4 tbsp chopped, fresh cilantro

1. In a saute pan, heat olive oil over medium heat. Saute onions for 7-10 minutes or until soft and translucent.
1. Place pizza stone on cold grill. Preheat grill on high for about 10 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, stretch your dough by hand or roll it out on a lightly floured surface.
3. Sprinkle pizza peel liberally with cornmeal. Place stretched dough on top of cornmeal-covered peel.
4. Spread tomatillo salsa over the dough.
5. Distribute chopped chicken and sauteed onions evenly over the salsa.
6. Top with shredded cheese.
7. Reduce grill heat to medium-high. Slide prepared pizza onto preheated stone,close lid and grill for 8-10 minutes (for thin crust) until crust is golden and slightly crispy. Thicker crusts will require more time.
8. Remove pizza from stone and allow stone to cool on the grill.
9. Sprinkle chopped cilantro onto finished pizza.

For several years, I found the concept of grilled pizza intriguing, yet intimidating. I shuddered at the thought of placing pizza dough atop the grill grates, picturing globs of stuck-on dough or whole pizzas lost in the flames. Despite assurances to the contrary, I just couldn’t bring myself to try grilled pizza, until my co-blogger Lisa taught me how to grill pizza using a baking stone.

A baking stone makes grilling pizza amazingly simple. While some companies sell expensive stones that are specifically designed to withstand a grill’s high heat, I’ve had pretty good luck with the basic, inexpensive stones that can be found at Amazon, Target, Bed Bath and Beyond and similar retailers. Baking stones are more likely to crack if exposed to sudden changes in temperature, so it’s important to allow the stone to preheat on the grill and to give it plenty of time to cool. It’s also worth noting that baking stones should only be cleaned using a scraper and hot water, as they can absorb dish soap. Over time your stone will become stained and discolored; this is completely normal.

If your grill is too small to close completely when a pizza stone is placed on the grate, you can still grill your pizza. Simply allow the grill cover to rest on the protruding stone and keep in mind that you may need to adjust your grilling time. Since grills can vary so much in temperature, you’ll probably need to keep a close eye on your pizza to determine exactly what heat setting and times work for you.

When grilling a pizza in this manner, the only items you absolutely need are a baking stone, corn meal, and a portable preparation surface. The pizza must be prepared on a separate surface before being transferred to the preheated stone. A pizza peel is the ideal tool, although a rimless cookie sheet or large cutting board will work in a pinch. I have two peels, and my favorite is a large, smooth bamboo one that was a great find at Christmas Tree Shop. Before stretching the dough, it’s important to liberally sprinkle corn meal on the pizza peel. This will prevent the stretched dough from sticking, and make it easier to slide the prepared pizza from the peel to the stone.

Pizza dough is more relaxed and easier to work with when it’s at room temperature. Remove the dough from the refrigerator at least 30 minutes before you plan to use it (Since I like thin crust, I usually buy a large ball of unstretched dough from Bertucci’s and use it to make two pizzas). Unwrap the dough and set it on a lightly floured work surface. In a pinch, I have found that placing dough in a zip-top bag and then placing the sealed bag in a bowl of hot water allows the dough to relax more quickly.

Grilling your own pizza allows you to make the perfectly customized meal. It has become one of our go-to summer treats, and provides for an endless array of possibilities. Stay tuned for some of my favorite pizza recipes!

Grilling the Pizza:

1. Place pizza stone on cold grill. Preheat grill on high for about 10 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, stretch your dough by hand or roll it out on a lightly floured surface.
3. Place the stretched dough on a pizza peel covered with a generous layer of cornmeal.
4. Reduce heat to medium-high. Slide prepared pizza onto preheated stone, close lid and grill for 8-10 minutes (for thin crust) until crust is golden and slightly crispy. Thicker crusts will require more time.
5. Remove pizza from stone and allow stone to cool on the grill.