Grilled Pizza
Yet another post without a recipe, but I grilled pizza for the first time today and took pictures, so I thought I’d post them in case it inspires anyone else. I know grilling pizza is hardly revolutionary, but I had a lot of fun and would like to share.
First I lit the fire and let the coals burn until they were mostly white. Although it’s in the mid-90s today, which makes slaving over a hot grill a bit ridiculous, one advantage grilling pizza has over baking it in the oven is it takes the oven and baking stone nearly an hour to come up to temperature, whereas the grill took next to no time. I also wasn’t heating up the house, although I am about to turn the oven on to bake a couple loaves of pain au levain, so I’m not doing so well at keeping the kitchen cool after all.
While I was waiting for the briquets to be ready, I got everything ready on the table. Here are our two pizza crusts on peels; I’ve sprayed the tops of them with olive oil. I used my whole wheat version of Peter Reinhart’s New York style dough. I made my normal pizza sauce: saute crushed garlic and red pepper flakes in olive oil, add crushed fire-roasted tomatoes, salt, pepper, and, sometimes, oregano; cook for 10 minutes and optionally puree. I also had Daiya mozzarella ready.
When the briquets were ready, I spread them out, then put the rack on the lower position. Then I picked one crust up and put it on the grill olive oil side down.
I sprayed the top with more olive oil then closed the grill for a minute or two. When I opened it, the crust was bubbling like crazy!
When the crust was firm enough that it was no longer sticking to the grill, I used an aluminum peel to remove it and flip it over onto the wooden peel. it got a bit darker than I’d intended, but I don’t think it matters – charred is good!
I added my toppings to the grilled side …
… and returned the pizza to the grill, sliding it off the peel.
I closed the grill and let it cook for a few more minutes, checking it every minute or so until the bottom was done and the “cheese” was melted.
It was hard to take a picture of the bottom because it really takes more than two hands to hold a pizza up and photograph the bottom of it, at least when it’s too hot to touch, but here’s my attempt at doing so:
Verdict? This was great! There’s room for improvement: next time I’m going to try to roll the dough out thinner, and I might move the rack to the upper position so the pizza has a chance to bake a little longer before starting to burn. But considering it was my first time grilling pizza and only my 4th or 5th time ever using a grill, the results were very impressive, and very tasty. I’m definitely going to use this method for our weekly pizzas whenever the weather allows.
In other news, I’ve had a very productive weekend. I mentioned in my last post that I recently bought a whole bunch of vintage mason jars to store dry goods in and I even posted a picture of my newly organized baker’s rack. Well, yesterday I found a great rack for storing my jars in my favorite antique store – it’s the perfect size for the jars and fits perfectly next to my baker’s rack – and what’s more it was only $24! How awesome is that?!
And here’s that whole side of the kitchen:
Where I had some of the jars on the baker’s rack, I moved them to the new rack. Then I emptied half of my over-stuffed cupboard onto the newly-freed shelf on the baker’s rack, which means for the first time in years I can actually see what I have. I discovered I have three bottles of apple cider vinegar because I could never see the bottles I already had. THAT gave me plenty of space in that cupboard to spread out my canned goods so I can see THEM and so they are not falling on my head when I open the cupboard door. I always feel so good about life when I organize the kitchen! And now that my dried beans are out on display in the dining room, I’ll see them and think to make them more often, in fact, I’m soaking some right now for dinner tonight!
And finally:
I hope everyone has had as nice a weekend as I have! Apparently Torticia has.
Jessica @ Lima's Vegan Kitchen Said,
August 29, 2010 @ 9:16 pm
At first, I was jealous of your pizza then I scrolled down to the spice rack, changed my mind again at the sight of your awesome kitchen, and fell in love with your beautiful cat!!! *much envy* 🙂
Josiane Said,
August 29, 2010 @ 10:20 pm
Grilled pizza must be divine!
Your new rack is absolutely perfect for your jars. Having everything in one layer must be awesome – no need to move three jars before you can reach the one you want… Ah, that would be nice in my kitchen too!
Michell Said,
August 30, 2010 @ 11:41 am
Your pizza looks delish, but I totally love what you have done with the mason jars and the bakers rack. AWESOME kitchen!!!!
That Other Mike Said,
August 30, 2010 @ 12:07 pm
Looks like a nice pizza! Another food blog I visit has a pizza you might be interested in from the other day – it’s called The Food In My Beard, and he has a recipe up right now for mashed potato and sauerkraut pizza, which sounds weird but is actually delicious. It seemed like it might be right up your street…
susan Said,
August 30, 2010 @ 12:55 pm
i hope you kissed her after you took that shot of her
i do the grilled pizza all the time for guests…people are suprised by how fast and good it is….and no hot kitchen
Tiffany Said,
August 30, 2010 @ 7:11 pm
Mmmm I’ve wanted to try to grill pizza for so long now…I’m moving it up my food priority list slowly. And the mason jars look so cool on that awesome rack.
Carolyn Said,
September 1, 2010 @ 10:14 pm
Having said before, on many occasions, that pizza is one of my favorite vegetables (hey! mine has lots of vegetables on it), and grilled vegetables are awesome, how perfect to give us your method for grilled pizza. And I have just about the same baker’s rack! From Tar-Zjhay! It makes for a wonderful work/storage area in a small kitchen with limited space.
With Labor Day weekend looming large, this would be a great addition to my family’s otherwise meat-centric menu (that is if Hurricane Earl doesn’t wipe out the Mid-Atlantic in the meantime…)
Jes Said,
September 2, 2010 @ 12:12 pm
Those jars on the bakers rack are too awesome! I love the vintage blue-ness. & the pizza looks super good too. I haven’t actually grilled a pizza yet, but now I’m really jonesing to. Labor day weekend project maybe?
Laura (Blogging Over Thyme) Said,
September 2, 2010 @ 11:02 pm
Just found your blog and I’m loving it! I too live in Northern VA–too funny. That pizza looks great, I’ve been meaning to make grilled pizza for a while. It seems so intimidating to do. Thanks for the inspiration!
trininista Said,
September 5, 2010 @ 7:01 pm
I love how organised your jars are. I cannot wait to have my own place so I can have a sexy jar rack like that. The pizza looks like it was good. I love slightly burnt crusts myself.
Mo Said,
September 8, 2010 @ 2:14 am
Grilled pizza is the best! So smoky and crispy. Mmm.
I really love your kitchen setup. I’ve been wanting a baker’s rack for awhile and you’ve inspired me!
Eastender Said,
September 16, 2010 @ 7:34 pm
Stumbled upon your site today. All the food looks absolutely devine. But the real reason I am writing is to tell you that the kittens are beautiful. I have one that looks similar to Tortica – my sweet Angel who is a rescue. She spent over six months in a cage prior to our adopting her.
Going to try the pea soup tomorrow. Will be back often.
renae Said,
September 16, 2010 @ 7:59 pm
Eastender, welcome! Your poor Angel – I can’t bear the thought of animals in cages. I’m so glad she found a loving home. If she’s anything like my tortie, her name must be very appropriate!
Matt Hucke Said,
November 6, 2010 @ 4:03 pm
I love your kitchen setup! I found this blog just a few days ago (searching for a vegan cheese recipe), and have been reading through the archives, mainly because of the excellent photos.
You’ve inspired me to redo my kitchen. My mid-sized apartment kitchen has a half-sized dining room attached – but it’s too small and poorly insulated to be used for that purpose, so I’ve basically been ignoring it, using it for storage of excess kitchen gear, canned/dried food, and junk. But after seeing your photos, I’ve ordered a baker’s rack and a pot rack, and spent half the day pulling out the rubbermaids full of miscellany, sorting through it, and planning to make something useful out of that room. Thanks for the inspiration!