Well, you have that large propane or charcoal box in the back yard. Yes, your backyard grill can be the perfect place to construct some of the best pizza you'll ever had.
I love this pizza because it has a smoky flavor and an absolutely unique texture. The crust is crisp and slightly charred on the outside, but tender and chewy on the inside. It's reminiscent of the authentic brick oven pizza parlor pies, something that just can't be matched with your standard home oven.
Now there are some differences in cooking the pizza on the grill than in your oven. First, your crust needs to be a regular or thin crust. The thinner the crust, the crispier the pizza. Pan crust thicknesses just don't work that well. The heat involved will cook the outer crust quickly, but the interior of the pan crust will still be doughy.
Why? Well the way the heat effects the crust on a grill is much different than the oven. We're dealing with temperatures that are much hotter than the 350-400 degrees we see in your oven, but there some science in play here as well. We're getting both a convection and conduction effect on the crust. Conduction is the travel of heat or cold directly from one surface to another. Since this crust is sitting on the grates of the grill and they've been heated to extreme temperatures, that heat is transferred directly to the crust much faster than air would transfer heat in your oven. And you'll get a little bit of charring as well, which will add some flavor to the crust.
Convection is the process of moving water or air transferring its heat or cold from itself to another item. For example, your hair dryer uses the hot air traveling at a high velocity to wick away the moisture much faster than just sitting in air at the same temperature. And if you've ever placed your toes in a cold running creek, you know that water feels colder than the same stagnant water. The molecules running by your skin literally pull the heat out of your body. Same thing happens here. That air circulating from the flames cooks the crust much faster than the stagnant air of your oven. This crust will be fully cooked in FOUR minutes, instead of the standard 15-20 you'll see in the oven. So make sure your crust isn't too thick.
Larger pieces of food can be placed directly on the grill, but if you're working with smaller bits, like small peppers, mushrooms, pineapple, etc., it's best to skewer them to prevent them from sliding through the grill grates. When everything is cooked, slice and prepare them before putting the crust on the grill. The clock is ticking when you start cooking the crust, so the more you do ahead of time, the easier the cooking will be.
Third, the cheese on this pizza is an accent, not a main component. Why? Well you can only have the cheese on the pizza for about 2 minutes of the total cooking time. In that period of time, a light layer of cheese will melt and wrap around the ingredients. Too thick of a layer will have a melted top, but a solid underside, which just doesn't taste that good. You could use a creme brulee torch to help melt it all, and by all means use it if you want, but I've found less cheese is better. The lack of cheese can be compensated by using something beyond just mozzarella. Try adding some Parmesan or asiago cheese to give the pizza more flavor.
For best results, you want to make sure the entire crust is covered with a thin layer of olive oil. This will prevent your crust from sticking to the grates, and the oil will conduct more heat to the crust, giving it that crispy texture. Also, make sure your grill is CLEAN. Scour the grates with a wire brush before firing it up and wipe them down with a towel. Remember, anything that's on the grates will make it's way onto the pizza, and you don't want any "extra" toppings.
Sausage and Pepper Pizza Grilled on the Barbecue
Makes 3 9-10 inch pizzas
1 Pizza crust recipe
1 1/2 cup pizza sauce or marinara sauce
Three 1/4-pound Italian sausage links (hot or mild, either is great)
1 green pepper
1 red pepper
1 yellow pepper
1/2 medium onion
8 mushrooms (optional)
1 1/2 cups room temperature mozzarella cheese
Slice your peppers down the corner edges so you have four large slabs that will sit flat on the barbecue grill. Slice your onion in quarters and keep the larger pieces, then place them on a skewer. Skewer your mushrooms as well. Ignite the barbecue and grill the sausages, peppers, onions, and mushrooms until they are thoroughly cooked. Once they're cooked, slice them into the desired size pieces and set them within reach for later. Crank your grill up to high so the box gets nice and warm while you prepare your crusts.
Stretch your pizza crust out into 9-10 inch, thin style rounds. Brush a light coating of olive oil onto both sides of the crusts. Move them to plates when they're ready to cook. Grab a pair of spatulas or a pizza peel (if you have it), and bring all the ingredients out to the grill.
Lube up the grill grates with some olive oil on a towel. Use the spatulas or peel to place the first crust on the grill and close the lid. Wait 2 minutes and then open the grill again. Use the spatulas or peel to flip the crust off the grill and back onto the plate, cooked side up. Cover the crust with sauce, toppings and cheese, then place it back on the grill. Close the grill again for 2 more minutes. After the time has expired, take the pizza off the grill and move onto the next pizza. Continue until all of them are cooked, then serve to the masses while still hot.
So try a different way to make pizza tonight and use your grill in a way you never considered before.
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