Grilled Pizza Made Simple
My family loves pizza, especially when the crust is thin and crispy. So, when the new cookbook, Grilled Pizzas and Piadinas, arrived, I was very excited to test out some recipes right away. Now, this cookbook is not just about pizzas, it also includes piadinas, salads, and desserts. The beginning sections of the book give you a detailed list of tools needed to make pizza and guidelines on how to put together your own pizza with toppings you enjoy. The author, Craig W. Priebe, was the owner of C.K.’s Grilled Pizza and won several culinary awards during the 5 years they were open.
I love how this cookbook is set up, with detailed instructions on how to make the pizza or piadina dough, including pictures. I found this to be really helpful when rolling out the pizza dough and when grilling it. Since I have not grilled pizza before, it was nice to be able to refer to the pictures and the instructions so that I knew when the crust was ready to be turned. The basic pizza crust recipe is very simple to put together and can be made in advance without issue. I made the dough on a Sunday, and then made the pizzas 2 days later. The grilled crust came out nice and crispy and not too thick, which has been a problem for us when we would bake pizzas in the oven.
If you don’t have an outdoor grill, you don’t have to avoid this cookbook, because it gives instructions on how to cook on an indoor grill, Cuisinart GR-1 Griddler Panini and Sandwich Press
Rather than follow an exact pizza recipe for my first grilled pizza, we used the guidelines on choosing topping ingredients. We used a marinara sauce that I keep on hand for the sauce, pesto and sliced mushrooms, black olives, and finally shredded mozzarella. One thing that I liked from the book was that when you are placing your ingredients on the grilled crust, you don’t need to perfectly spread them throughout the pizza. Rather, place them randomly on the pizza so that each bite brings a new flavor to your mouth. This really made the pizza different from anything we’ve had before. Once the toppings have been added, it only takes another 5 -10 minutes before you are digging into a crispy slice of pizza. Really just long enough to heat it and melt the cheese.
I’m really impressed with this cookbook and the variety of recipes included. In the next few days, I plan to make one of the dessert pizzas, S’mores. I am sure my family will be in love with it at first bite! With all the summer get-togethers we host and go to, I hope to put this cookbook to good use over the next few months.
Basic Grilled Pizza Dough - makes two 12-inch pizzas
Ingredients
3/4 cup warm water
1 packet active dry yeast (about 2 1/4 teaspoons)
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 1/2 cups unbleached flour
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 tablespoons cornmeal, preferably white, plus additional for the pan
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO), plus 1/4 teaspoon for the bowl.
Directions
Making the dough:
Pour the warm water into a small bowl or measuring cup. (If the water is too hot, the yeast will die. If too cold, it will not activate.) Add the yeast and sugar and stir until the yeast dissolves into a smooth beige color. Let it stand on the counter for about 5 minutes to prove that the yeasted water is active. A thin layer of foam will appear at the top, indicating that the batch is good.
Kneading with a stand mixer: Add the flours, salt, and cornmeal to a 4- to 5-quart standing mixing bowl. Use the dough hook attachment on the lowest speed to mix the dry ingredients. Add the yeasted water and the 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Mix on the slowest speed to allow the ingredients to come together. You may need to scrape down the sides with a spatula. Then, move to medium-high speed and knead for 2 minutes. The batter should form a ball, unless it’s too wet or sticky. If so, add only enough flour to prevent it from sticking. The dough should come off the sides cleanly and form a ball.
Put the remaining 1/4 teaspoon of EVOO in a medium bowl. The dough will be sticky, so flour your hands before picking it up, and place it in the bowl. Turn it over several times until it is coated in the oil. This prevents a crust from forming on its surface as it rises.
Cover with plastic wrap, and place in a draft-free, warm place (70 to 80 degrees F), for 2 hours, until it rises to almost double in appearance.
Chill the dough in the refrigerator overnight, or for 1 hour to firm it up. Since this dough is slightly sticky, chilling the dough makes it easier to roll out. Chilling it overnight gives the dough more flavor and texture. Dough will keep in the refrigerator for 3 days.
Rolling out the dough:
Your refrigerated dough should have doubled in size. Punch it down gently to remove gas.
Lightly flour about a foot of space on a clean, dry countertop. Flatten the dough with your hands to about 1-inch thickness. Cut in half with a knife.
Put one piece of dough in the center of the floured space and sprinkle a little flour over the top. Using a rolling pin, make smooth strokes to roll out the dough starting from the center out to the edges.
Work around the diameter of the dough to form a circular crust with an even thickness. It is not necessary to maintain a perfect circle. Roll the dough out to about a 12-inch diameter, about 1/9-inch thick. Sprinkle the crust with a fine layer of flour; it will make the dough easier to handle and prevents stickiness.
Position 2 cookie sheets with no sides, or 2 pizza screens, next to your dough. Sprinkle them generously with flour or cornmeal, so the dough will not stick. Pick up the dough with two hands and fold it gently in half.
Transfer the dough to a cookie sheet.
Unfold the dough onto the pan to make it flat.
Stretch out the dough to an approximate 12-inch diameter.
Repeat with the second piece of dough on the second cookie sheet.
Grilling the Crust:
When your grill is at the right temperature (400 degrees F), hold the cookie sheet close to it and slide the dough onto the grill. If the dough folds onto itself, try to move the edges out quickly to form a flat crust (without burning yourself). As long as the crust is about 12 x 12 inches, don’t worry that the shape is irregular.
The dough should take about 3 minutes to cook. Watch for bubbles. The crust will be soft at first and tear easily, so try not to touch it. Soon it will set and firm up.
To check whether your crust is done, lift the underside. it should be an even light brown with brown grill marks. A charred crust adds to the flavor.
Pick up the crust from the middle, using tongs, and place it on your cookie sheet. Flip it over so the grilled side is faceup. This browned side becomes the top of your pizza.
Cookbook photo courtsey of Amazon.com
