Pizza on the Grill

We make homemade pizza quite a bit...it saves a lot of money and it's kind of fun for everyone to make an individual pizza.

My husband and I ate at California Pizza Kitchen a few weeks ago and it was around $40 for two pizzas, lemonades, tax, and tip. I haven't added up all the costs down to the flour and spices, but just a rough estimate I can make six 8 to 9" homemade pizzas for under $10 (the biggest cost being the cheese).

You know I've been trying to not to heat up my house to make dinner and make my central air work overtime, so I definitely don't want to set the oven to 500 F for pizza. The solution is that we make it on the grill. If you haven't tried grilling pizza, it's yummy. Thought I'd share the dough and sauce recipes I use and a few grilling tips.

The Dough

I use this recipe from Country Living magazine. I tried quite a few recipes before I found this one and I love it. I've started making it on the dough setting on my bread machine so it's easy-peasy. And I make mixes so all I have to add is water and yeast.

For each package of mix:

3 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt (I usually just use one teaspoon)

Package in individual bags or containers.

In my bread machine I add:

1 1/2 cups warm water
the dough mix
2 1/4 teaspoons (1 packet) of active dry yeast

1 1/2 hours later the dough is ready to roll! The recipe says it makes one 16" pizza crust but I make four 10" pizzas for the oven (I cook them on pizza screens I bought from a restaurant supply company) or six 8-9" pizzas for the grill (for a thinner, quicker cooking crust) from one batch.

The Sauce

My favorite sauce (again, after trying lots of recipes) is this one. I like it because it tastes good, it's no cook, and it makes just the right amount for one batch of dough. Also, it doesn't waste any ingredients since it uses a whole can of tomato sauce. I'm sure there are more gourmet recipes out there but I love this one.

1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon dried basil

The recipe says to mix these in a medium bowl, but here's a secret. If you stir gently you can mix the spices right in the can of tomato sauce with the teaspoon you used to measure the spices and you save washing a few dishes!

Grilling Tips

Because grills vary widely, do what works best for your grill, but here's what works for me:

• Have all of your ingredients ready to go. Thinly sliced, quick cooking toppings are best. I wouldn't use raw meats (like sausage) or any veggies that take a while to cook...they just won't get done.
• Have the table set and everyone assembled so they can eat the pizzas when they come off the grill.
  
• I turn on my three-burner grill and set one side to low and the other two burners to medium high.
• I grill one pizza at a time (I'm not coordinated enough to do more than one at a time..they cook quickly and you have to watch them closely).
• I place one piece of dough over the medium high side and close the lid for 30-45 seconds until the bottom is golden brown and there are grill marks. I flip the dough so the grilled side is up and move it to the low side. I spread the grilled side with a little sauce, a sprinkle of cheese, and a few toppings and move back to the medium high side and close the lid to finish cooking.
• I move each finished pizza up to the second rack while I'm preparing the next pizza if it looks like it needs a little extra time to cook.
  

If you like to grill pizza and have tips or ideas to add, please do!

P.S. If you want to cook this recipe inside the oven, split the dough into fourths and roll out to fit 10" pizza screens (or you can make whatever size/thickness you'd like...this is just how I do it). I bake mine in a 500 F. oven for 8-10 minutes, but the time will really depend on the size you make your pizzas, how many toppings you have, etc.