Recipe: Char-grilled pizza!

Ingredients:

Makes one 10-12 inch pizza (serves 2-3 folks)

Dough

  • 3/4 cups warm water
  • 1 1/8 teaspoons of active dry yeast
  • 1 3/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons of all-purpose flour
  • 1 tablespoon EVOO (extra virgin olive oil)
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon sugar
  • EVOO

Toppings

  • EVOO
  • 1/2 cup pizza sauce (you can also get creative and use pesto – or another sauce – as your base)
  • 1.5 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
  • 1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
  • Other toppings of your choice

Method:

  1. Place the warm water in the large mixing bowl. Sprinkle the yeast over the warm water and let it sit for 5 minutes.
  2. Mix in the flour, olive oil, salt, and sugar.
  3. Knead the pizza dough by hand in the bowl for about 7-10 minutes. Hey, you get a good arm workout! The dough should be a little sticky to the touch.
  4. Roll dough in to a ball and drizzle with EVOO. Move dough around the bowl so that its entire exterior gets a nice coating of oil.
  5. At this point, you can choose how long you want the dough to ferment and rise (note that I typically opt for a “medium rise”): *For a quick rise, place the dough in a warm place (75°F to 85°F) for 1 1/2 hours.*For a medium rise, place the dough in a regular room temperature place (your kitchen counter will do fine) for 8 hours. *For a longer rise, chill the dough in the refrigerator for 24 hours (no more than 48 hours).
  6. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and select your ferment/rise time per above. Set your timer!
  7. Find a flat and clean work space in which to roll your dough. Now, gather the following items:
    1. Flour (for dusting)
    2. Rolling pin
    3. Rimless cookie sheet
  8. Dust your work space with flour.
  9. Roll out your dough to a 10-12” circle (or square).
  10. Dust the cookie sheet liberally w/ flour and gently place the dough atop.
  11. When you’re ready to grill:
    1. Make sure your grill grates are clean/without debris caked on them!
    2. Oil the grates using a paper towel soaked in vegetable oil OR a grill spray.
    3. Ignite the grill and set to 500 degrees F (medium-high heat).
    4. Have a metal spatula and tongs on-hand.
  12. Gently lower the pizza on to the grill and close the lid. Set your timer for 2 minutes
  13. Check on your dough, making sure to lift it up to see that it’s not getting too charred in a certain region. If one of the undersides is darker than the other, use tongs to rotate the dough 90 degrees and shut the lid for another minute.
  14. Grab your cookie sheet and remove the dough from the grill, making sure to keep the dough grill-side-up (so you can see the char marks). Keep the grill on and bring your dough inside.
  15. Paint, using your culinary brush, or rub, using your hands, the dough with EVOO (again, you should be looking at the dough side that has grill marks vs. the side that hasn’t yet touched the grates)
  16. Now, for the fun part: it’s time to top your pizza! Begin by spreading your sauce all over the pie, save for about 1/2-1” from the edge. Add the cheeses and your optional toppings.
  17. Return the pizza to the grill. Close the lid and cook for 2-3 minutes more, or until the bottom begins to char and the cheese is bubbly.
  18. If you’re happy with how the cheese has melted and you’ve checked under the crust to make sure everything looks evenly-charred (not burnt to a crisp), remove your pie from the grill. If, however, you want your pie to cook for a bit more, set your timer to 1-minute intervals, checking the melted cheese and crust bottom each time thereafter until you’re satisfied.
  19. Transfer the pie to a large cutting board – slice – and enjoy!

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Image Source:*thelunchbelle.com

Source:thelunchbelle.com

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