Grilled Pizza

Homemade Pizza and Caesar Salad our Friday night tradition!

We started a family tradition just before Ava was born to make homemade pizza on Friday night. I have perfected our favorite pizza using a whole wheat crust recipe that I make in my Kitchen Aid stand mixer. I usually make the pizza crust on Thursday night before bed and let the dough rise overnight. Then in the morning, I'll split the dough and wrap them in plastic wrap and store the dough balls in the refrigerator. We use a Pampered Chef pizza stone in the oven for the nights that we bake the pizza in the oven. We love it!

This summer has been unbelievably hot! It's been regularly 90 and even 100 degrees and we just can't justify using the oven for much these days. We are doing lots of cooking on our new grill and crockpot with these hot temperatures. Last summer, we went to the Pierce's house for dinner and they made a delcious grilled pizza. They were inspired by our pizza making tradition too! They made a BBQ chicken pizza on the grill and it was so tasty and didn't require heating an oven.

So last weekend, we tried grilled pizza after consulting with Shawn and his technique. Well, it got pretty charred because we tried to put the toppings on the crust after it flipped, while on the grill. Maybe we should have asked him for an in-person cooking class! I made two smaller pizzas and they both got pretty burned on the bottom. But this inspired Aaron to think of another way to grill it. Last night, I'm happy to report that we've perfected our method for cooking the pizza on the grill! It was delicious and not burned. The way we cooked it was similar to the oven, in fact, with the par-baking of the crust before you put the toppings on it.

Shape your pizza into a large rectangle so it fits easily on the grill or cookie sheet or serving platter to transfer easily.

Grilled Pizza:
Make ahead Whole wheat pizza crust - recipe makes 2 large pizzas or six 8-inch pizzas.
Non-stick cooking spray
Pizza sauce, toppings, and cheese

Method:
Thanks to Aaron for figuring this out!

• Preheat grill.
• Shape pizza crust into smaller rounds or one large rectangle with half the dough from the recipe above.
• Get toppings ready. 
• Par-baking: Spray crust with non-stick cooking spray and place on the grill. Close the lid and then grill for about 3 minutes.
• Turn off the grill. Take the crust off the grill and bring inside or off the heat. On the opposite side that you grilled, add sauce, toppings and cheese. TIP: If you use a rectangular shape, you can place the pizza crust on a cookie sheet to transfer.
• After the toppings are on the pizza, place it on the grill with indirect heat (other burner) for about 7 minutes. Then put the direct flame on low to cook for another 5 minutes or so. 
• When the pizza is done, cut and serve immediately. 

We enjoy our homemade pizza with tomato sauce and fresh spinach, pepperoni (sparingly), and olives. 

I'm so excited to have grilled pizza this summer!