Barefoot Bloggers: Grilled California Pizzas
Jeff has three grills. Once I asked him why, and the short version is that they are all different, but he loves them the same. Like children. Smoky, gassy, highly-flammable children. My interaction with them has largely consisted of admiring Jeff’s grill marks whilst handing him the Holy Meat Thermometer.
Not anymore.
When Tara from Barefoot Bloggers told me I was the group’s August Bonus Recipe Challenge winner, I knew exactly what recipe I would pick: Grilled California Pizzas. I thought it’d be the perfect opportunity to learn how to grill using something besides a.) an expensive piece of meat or b.) a hot dog. And I wanted to try the Barefoot Contessa’s pizza crust.
First, the crust. Basically, you combine the ingredients with your Kitchen-Aid, knead the dough a little, let it rest 30 minutes, and divide it into six balls. The recipe says you can refrigerate the dough for up to four hours, but I’m here to testify that, should company come and offer to pay for a delicious steak dinner, you can store it in the fridge overnight.
So, while I was waiting for the refrigerated dough to come to room temperature, it was time for the Grilling Tutorial. Jeff had already cleaned the grill, so all I had to do was pour the charcoal inside, stack the briquettes into a pyramid shape to control the heat (BABY! I LISTENED!), poured on the lighter fluid, and lit the charcoal. Then it went out, and I lit it again. And again. And one more time. And I MADE FIRE!!!
Once the coals are lit, it takes 30 to 45 minutes to heat the grill. In the meantime, you stand there with the tongs, looking cool, moving the ashy coals to the outside of the pyramid and bringing the still-black coals closer to the fire. Or, if you’re like me, you do that for about 90 seconds and then pass the mic to your husband while you run to the kitchen to prep the dough and pizza toppings.
To prep the dough, you roll and stretch each ball into an 8-inch circle and place the crusts on baking sheets sprinkled with cornmeal.
I didn’t go Contessa-crazy with the toppings. I grabbed some small prep bowls and filled them with odds-and-ends we had in the fridge from the Barefoot Contessa Panzanella – tomato slices, red pepper, yellow pepper, red onion, and basil – plus pepperoni, fresh mozzarella and grilled chicken.
Then, it was Business Time.
The pizza-grilling process moves very quickly, so you want to have everything nearby: crusts, toppings, plates, a fresh set of tongs, pastry brush and olive oil.
The trick is to slide the crusts onto the grill using the baking sheets like pizza peels. It took me two crusts to realize that. The dough looks like it would sink through the metal grid, but the heat sets it up quickly. Grill the crusts for one minute, then turn them over, brush them with olive oil, pile on the toppings, and cook them with the lid down for five minutes.
I went skimpy with the toppings on the first few pizzas, because I was afraid of weighing down the crust and making a hot mess. Trust me, PILE THEM ON. Don’t be afraid to add sauce, either. Once the dough has cooked on the grill for that first minute, the consistency is like flatbread. Load it up.
The recipe makes A LOT of dough, so you might want to scale it back or invite some people over to make their own pizzas. Coming up with different combinations is pretty addictive. While I was grilling, Jeff and I were talking about what we want to try on the pizzas the next time around: homemade pizza sauce; grilled fruit, walnuts and mascarpone; hot sausage and grilled peppers; chicken, onions and barbecue sauce; grilled veggies and goat cheese; chocolate.
And one more thing … I made the full amount of dough, because I was afraid of scorching a few crusts into oblivion, but this recipe is a beginning griller’s dream. Even when I threw two rolled-up crusts onto the grill, they cooked perfectly and tasted delicious. Ina Garten must have a deal with the devil. Or three grills for practicing.
