Cooking Made Simple: Pizza on The Grill Part I

My true passion in life is cooking and helping others to cook by making things extremely simple.  For my first edition of Cooking Made Simple, I want to teach you a fool proof way of making pizza.  This pizza recipe is a classic and will make 4 7-8" pizzas.  If you have any problems or questions, ASK ME!   Do it once and the next time will be even easier.  What ever you don't use refrigerate and use it later in the week.  Be sure to bring the dough to room temperature before rolling out.  I always keep yeast in the refrigerator so when I have NO CLUE what to make for dinner I always can make pizza's with different toppings. 

Homemade pizza is always a crowd pleaser and the kids love it.  If you can handle a little flour on the floor, this is a fantastic recipe to make with kids.  They love to make the dough, kneed the dough and top it with their favorite toppings.  I love to make these pizzas for a casual dinner party, where we will have 8 different gourmet pizzas with a great salad, or for appetizers before a sit down dinner.  Now that summer is here, I try to cook mostly outside.  My favorite way to make these pizzas is on a pizza stone made for the barbeque.  This is because the barbeque can reach a very high heat, higher than some ovens, which allows for a crispy pizza with a bubbly topping.

HOW TO GET IT RIGHT:  To get the pizza right make sure the yeast has not expired (look at the date on the package), make sure the yeast proofs (see below), make sure the stone has been preheated for at least a half an hour, and cook the pizza at the highest possible heat (500 degrees in a conventional oven or high for a barbeque).

HOW TO CHEAT:  Many of you don't realize this but you can visit your favorite pizza restaurant and ask them to sell you some dough.  You take it home, divide into 4 equal parts and refrigerate until you need it.  Just remember,  bring to room temperature before you roll it out and cook it.  Then top it however you like, see below for ideas or tune in to Pizza on the Grill Part II.

PART I: MAKING THE DOUGH

Ingredients
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1 tbl honey
2 tbl olive oil
3/4 cool water
1 package yeast
1/4 cup warm water
semolina for sprinkling

STEP 1

1. Place flour in a food processor.
2. Combine salt, olive oil, honey and 3/4 cup of cool water.  Mix well.
3. Dissolve yeast in the 1/4 cup warm water and let proof for 10 minutes.  There are a couple of tricks to yeast that you must follow.  If the water is too hot or too cold the yeast wont work.  If your kitchen is too cold it may take longer to proof.  What does it look like when the yeast has proofed?  Foamy and bubbly.  If it doesn't look like this then wait longer and if the water still looks murky, my suggestion is to throw it away and start over.  This is an important part to pizza making.
4. With the motor running, slowly add the honey and salt liquid through the feed tube then add the dissolved yeast.  Process until the dough forms a ball on the blade. 
5. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and knead with the palm of your hand until it is smooth.  If it is sticky add a sprinkling of flour and knead once again until smooth.
6. Sprinkle olive oil in a bowl and wipe so that it coats evenly.  This will make sure that the dough wont stick.  Put dough into bowl, cover with a towel, and place in a warm location in your kitchen.  Allow to rise for 30 minutes.  The dough should approximately double.  If your kitchen is cold, for example in the winter time, it may take longer to rise.  Sometimes when it is really cold, I will put the oven on at 100 degrees for 5 minutes turn it off and then put the dough inside and close the door.  This makes a nice warm place for the dough to rise properly.

STEP 2

1. Prepare toppings for the pizza.  This will be covered in Part II of Cooking Made Simple.  Check back next week.  See below for topping ideas.

STEP 3

1. Divide dough into 4 parts.  Roll each piece into a tight ball.  Place on a flat sheet, cover with a damp towel, and refrigerate until you are ready to use.  If you don't plan on using the dough that day, put them in separate ziploc bags until you are ready to use.
2. One hour before baking, remove dough from the refrigerator and let it come to room temperature.  If it is in a ziploc bag, reshape into ball.
3. Lightly flour a work surface.  Roll dough out so that the diameter is about 6 inches.  I prefer when the pizzas aren't perfectly round.  There is a great restaurant in Boston, called Figs, that actually makes their pizzas into an oval.  So the shape is your choice.  Keep checking the bottom of the pizza to make sure that it is not sticking to the counter top.  If it is sprinkle a little more flour on the surface.

STEP 4

1. Put pizza stone on barbeque.  Turn heat on high for at least 30 minutes.  You can also put a pizza stone inside an oven and preheat to 500 degrees.  This will make sure that the stone is heated all the way through.

STEP 5

1. Sprinkle semolina (regular corn meal will work too) on a wood peel or on a baking sheet, enough so that the dough doesn't stick when you are sliding it from the peel or sheet to the stone.  Transfer the rolled out dough to the wood peel or baking sheet and put on toppings of choice.  See Cooking Made Simple Part II for topping recipes or below for ideas.  If you are having difficulty with the wood peel or baking sheet, or you want to prepare several in advance, another great option is to roll the dough out directly on to parchment paper and transfer the parchment paper directly to the barbeque pizza stone.
2. For each pizza, brush (or spread with fingers) the dough with olive oil and sprinkle with salt, oregano and/ or chili flakes.  Add toppings. 
3. Slide the pizza onto the stone and bake it for 10 to 12 minutes, or until the cheese is bubbling lively.
4. Remove the pizza and sprinkle with fresh herbs of choice.  Serve immediately and cut into wedges.

PIZZA ON THE GRILL PART II

In Pizza on the Grill Part II, I will give some guidance and recipes on how to prepare some of the toppings below, including many ways to cheat.  If there are any favorites in particular that you must have post a comment below.  Enjoy!!  Bon Apetito!

Millie

My Favorites

• Black forest ham an goat cheese pizza
• Sweet Italian Sausage Pizza
• Fresh Fig and Gorgonzola Pizza
• Chanterelles, Eggplant and Leeks Pizza
• Carmelized Onions and Prociutto
• 4 Cheese Pizza
• Pizza Margherita
• Scallions with Peking Duck
• Spicy Shrimp Pizza with Carmelized Leeks
• Portobellow Mushrooms, Mushroom Puree and Fontina Cheese
• Fig and Prociutto
• Salmon Creme Fraiche and Golden Caviar