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Pizza alfresco: Put pies on grill for taste of outdoors |
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Written by Teresa J. Farney, MCT
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Saturday, 12 August 2006 |
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MCT
Spray your grill with cooking spray before it heats up to help the dough flip easy for this grilled pizza recipe. When it's finished, the pizza easily lifts off the grill with a spatula and tongs.
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It's blistering out, and you don't want to crank up the oven, so you turn to your favorite summertime appliance: the grill. But what you really crave is a homemade pizza, a dish that begs for a hellishly hot oven.
A conflict? Nope _ you can grill that pizza. Do it right, and you'll end up with a delicious, crispy crust with a chewy inside and a slightly smoky pie that's so good, you'll be grilling pizza even in winter.
The idea of grilling pizzas is a spinoff of those expensive, wood-fired ovens with thick stone floors. Chef Ben Davis, co-owner of Passionate Palate in Denver, has one of those fancy ovens at his cooking school.
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MCT
Grilled pizza can be cooked on a hot pizza stone sitting on the grilling area. Corn meal helps the dough slide off the cookie sheet.
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"The advantages of a pizza oven are that the intense heat stored by the stone floor is transmitted directly to the crust of the pizza, giving you a crisper and speedier pizza," he said. "The cooking is also very even with a stone, as the temperature is very uniform across the surface of the stone."
But these ovens are not for everyone. They cost thousands of dollars and require almost 24 hours of smoldering wood to get them to the 500 degrees required for baking.
That stone floor concept, however, easily translates to a much cheaper device for the home cook: a pizza-grilling stone.
To duplicate a pizza cooked in a wood-fired oven, we used one of the stones and also tried cooking directly on the grill grates. Here's a look at both methods.
PIZZA-GRILLING STONE
We spotted the VillaWare PizzaGrill ($99.99, at Chef's Catalog retail store and Williams-Sonoma) and took one home for a test drive. Basically, it's a porous clay stone within a raised stainless-steel frame designed to convert an outdoor gas grill into a pizza oven. The stone can withstand searing temperatures; when it becomes ultrahot, that _ and the ambient temperature inside the grill _ creates a light, crisp, bubbly crust. An attached thermometer allows you to gauge the temperature of the stone.
We found it did a darn good job of producing an evenly browned, crispy crust with a slightly smoky flavor. The trick is to use plenty of cornmeal when pressing out the dough. The cornmeal lets you easily move the prepared pizza onto the hot stone and adds a crunchy texture and nice flavor to the crust. The pizza dough should be pressed out to about ¼-inch thick, which also helps keep the crust crispy.
One drawback: This grilling stone is for use on gas grills only. A charcoal fire is too difficult to regulate and keep at a consistent heat.
We wondered whether the pizza stones made to use in kitchen ovens could be used on the grill. From our experience, you're taking your chances. Here's what happened:
Davis suggested placing the oven-only pizza stone on an inverted baking sheet, then placing the assembly on the grill before heating it on high for about 40 minutes, or until hot to the touch.
"The baking sheet should still allow for the stone to heat up well and also should prevent cracking of the stone from exposure to the direct flame of the grill," he said.
We gave his method a try and ended up cracking the stone.
However, Kimberly Lord Stewart, a Denver-based food writer, said she uses Davis' method all the time without any problems.
"Just be sure you place the stone on a cold grill and then do the heating process," she said.
Well, that's what we did _ and the stone still broke.
No matter which grilling stone you use, don't get too carried away with the pizza toppings. They will make the dough heavy and awkward to move onto the stone.
Chef's Catalog sells a pizza peel (a large wooden paddle) that can be used to transport the pizza to the stone and remove it when it's done. You can also use an inverted, rimless baking sheet, as we did, with fine results.
PIZZA RIGHT ON THE GRILL
We went to grillmeister Steven Raichlen, author of several cookbooks including "How To Grill," for his advice about grilling pizza. He's not so hot on the stone.
"Actually, for the best results, you don't need a stone at all," he said. "I like to drape the dough (well-oiled) right on the grill grate. Cooked this way, the crust puffs and blisters in an interesting way, and you certainly get an interesting smoke and fire flavor."
We tested his method on a gas and charcoal grill. Both worked fine, but the charcoal had a smokier, woodsier flavor.
Here's the catch, though: You need to have two heat zones — one for crisping the dough, the other for warming while you pile on the ingredients.
Place the dough oiled-side down on the hot grill. Nice grill marks should appear after about 2 minutes, and the bottom will be sturdy and crispy. Turn the pizza over, lower the heat if using a gas grill, or move to the cool zone on charcoal. Then layer on the toppings.
Close the lid and cook until the toppings are heated through and the cheese (if using) is melted.
It's a good idea to scrape the grill grates to be sure they are as clean as possible.
So what's holding you back from grilling a pizza? Making the dough, you say? If you're not feeling ambitious enough to make it from scratch, use store-bought frozen pizza or bread dough. They work just fine.
Or take a tip from Kathy Bousquet, owner of Barbeque Mercantile, who makes grilled pizza every weekend: Use store-bought, ready-to-cook pizza.
Want to have more fun grilling pizza? Invite a bunch of your friends over and let them make personalized minipizzas. Measure out balls of dough (about 3 ounces each), line up five or six topping choices and let them cut loose.
You can either cook them on a pizza-grilling stone or directly on the grill.
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PEPPERONI AND CHEESE PIZZA
Yield: 4 servings
1 envelope active dry yeast
½ teaspoon granulated sugar
2/3 cup warm water (105-115 degrees)
2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling out dough
1 teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for brushing crust
Cornmeal
2 cups pizza sauce
½ pound pepperoni slices
2 cups grated mozzarella cheese
Procedure:
1. In medium bowl, combine yeast, sugar and water. Stir briefly and let stand until foamy, 5-10 minutes. Add 2 cups flour, the salt, pepper and 2 tablespoons olive oil. Stir until dough holds together. Transfer to lightly floured work surface and knead until smooth, 5-10 minutes. Shape into ball and place in lightly oiled bowl. Turn ball to coat surface with oil. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and set aside in warm place until dough doubles in size, 1-1 ½ hours.
2. Punch down dough in bowl. Transfer to lightly floured work surface and cut into four equal pieces. Sprinkle a generous layer of cornmeal over the counter. Roll each piece of dough into an 8-inch round about 1/8 inch thick. Place each pizza round on the back of cookie sheet or on a pizza peel sprinkled with cornmeal. Lightly brush both sides of each round with olive oil.
3. Spread rounds with pizza sauce, pepperoni and mozzarella. Gently slide pizzas from baking sheets or pizza peel onto hot grilling stone and bake until crust bottoms are browned and cheese is melted, about 5-8 minutes. Remove from stone and serve.
Nutrition data not available.
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PIZZA MARGHERITA ON THE PIZZAGRILL
Yield: 4 servings
1 (9- to 10-inch) unbaked pizza crust
Cornmeal
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 teaspoon minced garlic
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan or Romano cheese
¾ cup (about 3 ounces) shredded Italian fontina cheese
8 roma tomato slices
Torn or julienne-cut basil leaves
Procedure:
1. Place pizza crust on back of cookie sheet or on pizza peel that has been sprinkled with a generous layer of cornmeal. Lightly brush pizza dough with olive oil. Sprinkle with garlic. Top with Parmesan. Sprinkle with fontina cheese. Arrange tomato slices over cheese.
2. Slide onto preheat PizzaGrill and bake 5-10 minutes, or until crust is crisp and lightly browned. Check bottom of pizza once or twice while baking to be sure it is not too dark; rotate pizza for more even color, if desired. Sprinkle with basil just before removing pizza from grill.
Nutrition data not available.
Source: VillaWare PizzaGrill BBQ Pizza Maker
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GREEK PIZZA
Yield: 4 servings
1 (9- to 10-inch) unbaked pizza crust
Cornmeal
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 teaspoon minced garlic
½ cup (2 ounces) shredded whole-milk mozzarella cheese
½ cup thinly sliced red onion
3 tablespoons pitted, coarsely chopped kalamata olives
3 tablespoons sliced pepperoncini, well-drained
1/3 cup (1 ¼ ounces) crumbled feta cheese
Procedure:
1. Place pizza on back of cookie sheet or on pizza peel that has been sprinkled with a generous layer of cornmeal. Lightly brush pizza dough with olive oil. Sprinkle with garlic. Top with mozzarella cheese, red onion, olives and pepperoncini. Sprinkle feta over pizza.
2. Slide onto preheated PizzaGrill and bake 5-10 minutes, or until crust is crisp and lightly browned. Check bottom of pizza once or twice while baking to be sure it is not too dark; rotate pizza for more even color, if desired.
Nutrition data not available.
Source: VillaWare PizzaGrill BBQ Pizza Maker
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GRILLED PIZZA
Yield: 2 (9-by-13-inch pizzas), 8 servings
DOUGH:
1 envelope active dry yeast (2 ½ teaspoons)
1 teaspoon sugar
1 ¼ cups warm water
3 ½ cups unbleached white flour, or more if necessary
1 ½ teaspoons coarse salt
About ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil, divided
TOPPING:
1 bunch arugula
1-3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 large onion, thinly sliced
Coarse salt and black pepper, to taste
2 medium red ripe tomatoes, cut crosswise into ¼-inch slices
Coarse salt and black pepper, to taste
6 ounces fresh mozzarella cheese, thinly sliced
½ cup pitted black olives (preferably kalamata)
2 tablespoons capers, drained
Extra-virgin olive oil, for grilling the dough
Procedure:
1. Combine yeast, sugar and water in small bowl and stir to mix. After 5-10 minutes, mixture should look foamy. Place flour and salt in bowl of food processor fitted with a plastic dough blade or a metal blade and pulse to mix. Add yeast-water mixture and 2 tablespoons oil and run machine in short bursts to obtain a smooth, soft dough. It should be moist but not sticky. If necessary, add more flour a spoonful at a time, running machine between additions, until dough is proper texture.
2. Turn dough out onto a work surface and knead by hand for a few minutes. Lightly coat a large bowl with remaining oil. Place dough in bowl, turning to coat with oil. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let dough rise in a warm spot until doubled in bulk, 1-1 ½ hours.
3. Punch down dough and let rise until doubled in bulk again, 1 hour. This second rising isn't absolutely imperative, but your crust will be lighter if you have the time to do it.
4. To prepare topping, rinse arugula and pat dry with paper towels. Heat 2 tablespoons oil in nonstick frying pan over medium heat. Fry garlic until golden brown, 2 minutes. Transfer garlic with a mesh skimmer to paper towels to drain. Add onion to pan. Cook over medium heat until caramelized to a dark golden brown, 6-10 minutes, adding salt and pepper to taste. You may need to lower heat as onion darkens. Transfer onion to a platter. Heat pan over high heat, adding remaining 1 tablespoon oil, if needed. Blot tomato slices dry on paper towels and season with salt and pepper. Quickly fry tomato slices on both sides.
5. Set up grill for three-zone heat grilling (see side box for gas and charcoal grill directions) and preheat hot zone to high. When ready to cook, brush and oil grill grate.
6. Generously oil two rimmed baking sheets. Place half the dough on one of the baking sheets and stretch out to form a 9-by-13-inch rectangle that is 1/8-¼ inch thick. Repeat with remaining dough and cover with plastic wrap.
7. Starting from far narrow side and using both hands, gently lift first dough rectangle and drape it onto grate over hottest part of fire. Within a minute or so, underside of dough will crisp and darken and top will puff slightly. Using tongs and a spatula, slide dough to a cooler part of grill and cook until bottom of dough is browned and firm, 3-5 minutes. Brush uncooked top with oil.
8. Using tongs and spatula, invert crust over a hotter part of fire. Grill until this side, too, starts to crisp and darken, about 1 minute. Move crust back to a cooler part of grill and brush top with oil. Arrange half of cheese slices on pizza, followed by half of fried tomato slices, caramelized onion, cooked garlic, olives and capers. Cover grill to melt cheese. When bottom crust is cooked, browned and firm, 2-4 minutes more, slide pizza onto a platter for serving. Top with half of arugula and season with salt and pepper. Cut into pieces and serve. While people are enjoying the first pizza, prepare second one same way. Pizza should be eaten as soon as it comes off grill.
Nutrition data not available.
Source: "How to Grill," by Steven Raichlen
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