Our summer finally arrived! We had a beautiful, sunny afternoon… a perfect day for BBQing! I am beginning to enjoy this form of cooking! I went from burning everything I put on the BBQ to turning out moist chicken breasts! I’ll let you in on my secret– indirect heat. Our BBQ has three burners. Put one on high or medium, and the other two on low. Cook your food over the low heat. You still get the amazing grilled flavor and the charred marks, but without the black crust over your entire food! Plus, food like chicken breasts, which dry out so quickly, stay moist!
Grilled pizza has mystified me for a while. Three years ago, the last summer we had a BBQ, we tried grilling pizzas, and it was a disaster. But, I thought that I had to try again to perfect something this enticing. It was a giant success! Delicious! Impressive-looking! Fun to make! You can use whatever you would like on your pizza. Let your imagination and taste buds be your guide.
The main secret. You must, I repeat, MUST have your ingredients prepped and by the BBQ before you begin this adventure. You won’t have time to run back into the kitchen to grab something. It has to be within arm’s reach. I marinated the chicken for my pizzas in Greek salad dressing and quickly grilled them before making the pizza. You can bake, fry, grill or do whatever to your chicken! I would recommend making individual sized pizzas, but if you want to try making a big one, go ahead!
The first thing to do is make your pizza dough. This recipe is quick and requires no rising. Perfect for a weeknight!
Fast and Easy Pizza Crust
Recipe from The Best of the Best and more, by The Best of Bridge
3/4 cup warm water
1 Tbsp. active dry yeast
1 tsp. sugar
1-1/2 cups flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1 Tbsp yellow cornmeal
1 Tbsp olive oil
In a small bowl, mix the warm water, yeast and sugar together. Let sit until the yeast gets foamy, about 5 minutes. In a large bowl, (I use my stand mixer with the dough hook), stir together the flour, salt and cornmeal. Add yeast mixture and olive oil. Knead to a smooth dough, about 10 minutes. If you have a stand mixer with a dough hook, you don’t need to knead your dough. The mixer does it for you! You can use this dough in your normal pizza recipes for the oven. If you’re using it for grilled pizza– keep reading.
Make sure all of your ingredients are prepped. I made a BBQ Chicken Pizza for the husband (chicken, BBQ sauce, chopped onions and grated cheddar cheese) and a Greek Chicken Pizza for myself (spinach leaves, chicken, Greek dressing, chopped tomatoes and onions, and crumbled feta cheese).
Now, make sure your BBQ is hot and have one burner on medium, and the other two on low. I had the burner on the far ride side on high and the other two low.
Stretch out your pizza dough. I spread some vegetable oil on my crusts to prevent them from sticking. I’m not sure this is necessary, as once the grill is really hot, the dough won’t stick once it’s cooked.
Put your pizza dough on the BBQ. Close the lid and wait for about 3-4 minutes. Open the lid. Using a big, metal spatula, flip over the dough. You’ll have nice grill marks on the top.
Now, put your toppings on your pizzas! Close the grill and let them cook for a minute or two, to melt the cheese and warm everything up.
Using my spatula and the aid of my tongs, I successfully maneuvered both pizzas onto plates without incident!
ENJOY!
The Hungry Teacher
The Hungry Teacher 