Pizza on the grill

Phillip perfected pizza on the grill when we were still in PA and had a full-size and fully-functioning oven - it tastes so much better on the grill!

It’s seriously convenient, too, because I make a big batch of dough and we freeze it in balls (with a couple in the cooler) so when we want to eat pizza we just roll out dough, deal with toppings, and grill.

I’ve taken to pre-grilling our toppings since the pizza is on the grill only a few minutes, and the onions and peppers were always still crunchy (which is still delicious). But since the grill needs to pre-heat anyway, might as well toss veggies on it. (Grill them in big pieces so they don’t fall through, then cut as soon as they’re cool enough to handle. You can get toppings ready way in advance.)

Dough recipe:

• 1 package (2 1/4 t) yeast - in the US we can find pizza-specific yeast but I haven’t noticed a difference between that and “regular” yeast
• 1 1/2 c warm water (not too hot! 110 degrees F, a little cooler than how I like my tea)
• 4 c flours (we usually do whole wheat, white and corn meal, but any blend will work as long as it’s not all cornmeal)
• sprinkle of salt
• 2 T olive oil

Dissolve the yeast in the warm water, stir, stir. Mix salt and flours in a bowl, then pour yeast-water into the bowl. Mix with spoon, then hands, then add the olive oil and knead. I’m a lazy kneader so I probably only do 2 minutes, but a few more minutes might be better.

OR do all that in a food processor with steel or plastic blade (I’ve used either). Mix dry ingredients in food processor, pour in wet, and pulse to mix, then a few more times.

This recipe makes 4-8 pizzas. Depends on how big your salad is! Phillip used to make 6 pizzas for himself from this recipe, but he has a big appetite and this would be his whole meal. Now we probably make 8 pizzas (even for two of us) because we have so many veggies to eat from the garden.

Bag them in individual rolls, try smaller than your fist and see if that fills you up. When we make pizza for company we have dough ready (i.e. thawed) because it’s so quick to make. Then once everyone is ready to eat we make the pizzas and everyone gets to eat it hot. And if we didn’t make enough, we just roll out another ball of dough.

Theoretically dough should be at room temp (or a little warm even) before you do a few more quick kneads and roll out. I’m sure the taste and texture are better this way, but seriously with a grill it’s going to taste good no matter what.

We usually use cornmeal when rolling because it’s a great taste and texture on the outside of the crust. In the US we used a rolling pin - when we downsized into a van we realized we could just use a jar or bottle.

Grill one side of the pizza (once the grill is already hot, 350-450 degrees) until it’s got grill marks and no wet dough on that side - about 3 minutes. Take it off, flip it over (onto a plate or cutting board since it is too hot to hold) and add the toppings.

Then put back on the grill for about 4 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and/or you’re too hungry to wait anymore.

We either make pizza sauce or use sundried tomatoes. Then one or two kinds of cheese, always peppers, onions on my half, and sometimes sausage on Phillip’s half. We like to smear pesto on it (great way to sneak more veggies in). But you don’t need pizza topping suggestions from us - you know what you like!

4 Comments:

Bob Gross

September 10, 2018

The pictures are delicious! And I know from experience that the pizza is also!

You two are wonderfully resourceful.

sure wish i could just pop over for dinner!

Thank you very much! We’re dreaming of our next vanlife, without this grill that we’ve adapted to, and realize pizza will never be the same:-)

Gorgeous colors! Your photos remind me of your G’ma Kurtz wanting to make sure the meals she prepared were colorful.

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