Pizza on the Grill

Combine two of America's food obsessions: grilling and pizza. You'll end up with a really great homemade pizza (chewy, crisp crust, slightly smoky from the grill), a cool kitchen and plenty of friends angling for invitations to your next backyard pizza performance.

If you practice grilling pizza dough solo a couple of times, this valuable outdoor party trick can be added to your own entertaining repertoire. It's more exciting than firing up one of those expensive, wood-fired pizza ovens so few home-kitchens have. Instead, we try to make do with pizza stones and other gadgets, a quality compromise, at best. Most cooks skip the whole thing, preferring to keep a nearby pizzeria on speed dial.

It's easy to make your own crust, but one can also buy ready-made dough from a pizzeria (you'll need a blob the size of a softball for a 12-inch pizza), frozen or refrigerated at the supermarket, even prebaked crusts.

Here's the Weber way to make pizza dough: Place 1-1/2 cups lukewarm water in a large mixing bowl and sprinkle one packet of dry yeast on top. Let sit for five minutes. Stir in two tablespoons olive oil. Combine four cups unbleached all-purpose flour and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Add to water mixture a cup at a time. If very sticky, add extra flour a tablespoon at a time. Turn out the soft dough onto a well-floured surface (or use cornmeal for a rustic crust) and knead for 10 minutes. Clean and oil the large bowl; add dough and turn once to oil top of dough. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise about one hour. Punch down and knead several minutes until smooth. Divide dough into four balls and proceed with pizza directions.

Be sure to roll out the dough as thinly as possible because it will rise a bit on the grill. And the tricky part you'll need to practice is allowing the pizza dough to cook through without burning or sticking to the grill grid. It will be done in about 10 minutes, so all the toppings should be pre-cooked, even the onions, and kept within arm's reach of the grill.

Gas or charcoal heat is fine, but a gas grill offers more precise temperature control for pizzas.

Recipes adapted from Weber-Stephen Products Co.

Breakfast Pizza

Ingredients:

1/4 cup cornmeal for rolling dough
4-inch ball of pizza dough, room temperature
2 Tbs. olive oil
1-1/2 cups fresh spinach leaves, lightly packed
2 medium tomatoes, diced
at least 1 cup aged Swiss cheese, shredded
2 eggs, room temperature
5 strips bacon, cooked, crumbled
sea salt, nutmeg, milled pepper to taste

Preparation:

Sprinkle work surface with cornmeal. Plop room-temperature pizza dough in middle and roll out from center into a 12-inch rectangle or circle, 1/4-inch thick. Brush both sides with olive oil and set aside until ready to grill.

Grasp dough at edge and flop in the center of cooking grate and grill directly over medium heat (charcoal or gas) for two to four minutes, until crust is well-marked and lightly browned. Remove from grill and spread spinach evenly over cooked side of crust. Sprinkle cheese over spinach and sprinkle lightly with nutmeg and pepper, sea salt if using.

Create a rim around the outer edge of pizza with diced tomato as a dam for the eggs. Create shallow nests for each egg by using additional cheese, if desired. Crack two room-temperature eggs directly on either side of pizza's center. If using a gas grill, switch to indirect heat. Return pizza to the cooking grate and cook with the lid closed until the eggs are cooked like traditional sunny-side up eggs and the bottom of the crust is well-browned, about 15 minutes. Remove from grill and top with crumbled bacon. Slice pizza in half, an egg on each, and serve immediately.

Yield: 12" pizza

Pear, Walnut and Stilton Dessert Pizza

Ingredients:

1/3 cup chopped walnuts
2 ripe pears, cored, thinly sliced
1 Tbs. cinnamon sugar
1/4 cup flour for rolling dough
4-inch ball pizza dough, room temperature
2 Tbs. vegetable oil
2 Tbs. orange marmalade
4 oz. Stilton or blue cheese, crumbled

Preparation:

Toast walnuts in a dry skillet over medium heat until fragrant. Set aside. Toss sliced pears in cinnamon sugar and set aside.

Sprinkle work surface with flour. Place dough on it and roll from center into a 12-inch circle or rectangle, 1/4-inch thick. Brush both sides with oil and grip dough at edge to flop on grill's cooking grid, over direct medium heat, two to four minutes. When crust is browned, remove from grill and spread cooked side of crust with marmalade. Arrange pear slices in spoke fashion; sprinkle with cheese and toasted walnuts. Switch a gas grill to indirect heat. Place pizza on grill grid and cook with lid closed until bottom is browned, five to 10 minutes. Remove from grill; slice to serve hot.

Yield: 12" pizza

Chinese Chicken Pizza

Ingredients:

2 boneless chicken breast halves
2 Tbs. olive oil, divided
1/4 cup cornmeal or flour
4-inch ball of pizza dough, room temperature
1/4 cup hoisin sauce (in grocery's Asian section)
4 green onions, sliced
up to 2/3 cup cilantro leaves (not stems)
1 cup fresh mung bean sprouts
1/2 cup red bell pepper, sliced paper-thin
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
milled pepper

Preparation:

Brush skinless chicken with olive oil and season with salt, pepper. Grill 10 to 15 minutes, direct heat, turning once. Cool and cut into strips.

Sprinkle work surface with cornmeal or flour. Roll out dough from center to a 12-inch circle or rectangle, 1/4-inch thick. Brush both sides with olive oil and place in center of heated grill's cooking grid. Grill over medium direct heat two to four minutes, until bottom of crust is well marked and browned.

Remove from grill and spread hoisin sauce evenly over cooked side of crust. Sprinkle with chicken, green onions, cilantro, sprouts and red pepper. Top with cheese. If using a gas grill, switch to indirect heat. Return pizza to center of cooking grate and grill with lid closed until bottom is browned, five to 10 minutes. Remove from grill, shower with pepper and slice to serve hot.

Yield: 12" pizza