Rustic Grilled Pizza Recipes

GRILLED PIZZA

Steps:

• Start charcoal fire or preheat gas grill to medium-high heat.
• Combine 2 cups flour, undissolved yeast, sugar and salt in a large bowl. Add very warm water and oil; mix until well blended, about 1 minute. Gradually add enough flour to make a soft dough. Dough should form a ball and will be slightly sticky. Knead** on a floured surface, adding additional flour if necessary, until smooth and elastic but not sticky, about 5 minutes.
• Divide dough into 8 portions. Pat or roll dough on a well-floured counter to about 8-inch circles; they do not need to be perfect.
• Brush both sides of crust with additional oil. Using hands, lift each crust carefully and place on grill. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes until bottom is lightly browned and top looks set. Using long handled tongs, remove crust from grill, grilled side up, to a platter or baking sheet.
• Lightly add sauce and top the grilled side of each pizza crust. Excess sauce or toppings makes the pizza hard to handle. Repeat with remaining pizzas.
• Carefully slide each pizza onto the grill. Cook an additional 3 to 4 minutes until bottom of crust is browned and cheese is melted. Remove from grill and serve immediately.

GRILLED PIZZA RUSTICA

Steps:

• Preheat a grill with coals on one half and bricks on the other (so that there is a hot and cool side). Assemble all of your topping ingredients on a big platter.
• Lightly oil a sheet pan and roll and stretch one ball of dough until it is approximately 12-inches in length and 8-inches across. It is not necessary to make a perfect circle, but the dough should be an even thickness of 1/8-inch. Carefully stretch the dough onto the hot side of the grill and cook until the dough puffs on top, crisps on the bottom, and grill marks appear, about 1 to 2 minutes.
• Flip the dough onto the cool side of the grill and brush the cooked side with olive oil. Quickly and sparingly assemble the toppings of your choice, such as tomato puree, fontina, and prosciutto di Parma, capers, and red peppers; or tomato puree, pecorino Romano, bel paese, grilled jumbo shrimp, and jarred Italian eggplant. Garnish with torn basil leaves. Feel free to improvise the toppings and come up with your own.
• Once the pizza has been dressed, season it with salt and pepper, to taste, drag it over to the hot side of the grill, and cook until the ingredients are heated through. (If the pizza browns too quickly, pull it to the cool side and cover the grill to finish cooking.) Using a wide spatula or two pairs of tongs, carefully lift the pizza onto a cutting board and divide into 6 or 8 pieces. Serve right away. Repeat with the remaining dough.
• In a large bowl, combine the water, yeast, and molasses and stir gently to mix. Set aside for five minutes until bubbly and foamy. Add the salt, to taste, and oil and stir to mix.
• In a separate bowl, whisk together the flours. Add the flours to the yeast mixture and stir with a wooden spoon until a dough forms and pulls away from the sides of the bowl.
• Divide the dough into six equal pieces. Roll into balls and place on an oiled baking pan. Brush the balls with olive oil and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise in a warm place for 20 minutes.
• When the grill is ready, oil a second baking sheet and flatten one ball of dough into a 10 to 12-inch piece about 1/8-inch thick. A perfect circle is less crucial than even thickness.
• Cook's Note: Dough can be held for 1 day in the refrigerator. Let sit 1 hour at room temperature before grilling.

RUSTIC VEGETARIAN PIZZA

Steps:

• Sprinkle cornmeal over a greased baking sheet. Unroll pizza crust; shape into a 12-in. square. Place on the baking sheet. Brush with 1 teaspoon oil. Arrange nine slices of cheese over dough to within 1 in. of edges. Cut each remaining cheese slice into four pieces; set aside. , Place half of the zucchini, about 2 in. apart, around edges of cheese. Fold edges of dough about 1 in. over zucchini. Bake at 400° for 6 minutes. , Layer with onion, remaining zucchini and tomatoes. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake for 16 minutes or until crust is golden brown. , Arrange reserved cheese over the tomatoes; bake 4 minutes longer or until cheese is melted. Drizzle with remaining oil. Sprinkle with basil. Let stand for 10 minutes before slicing.