Grilled Pizza

I was going to post more about the wedding planning today, but it is imperative that I interrupt your regularly scheduled post for the most amazing pizza recipe ever. It will require a grill, a stand mixer or some fierce dedication to great pizza, and some planning on your part since you will need to make the pizza dough a day ahead of time, but it’s worth it!

Step One: Pizza Dough (otherwise known as: You Are About to Hate Me If You Don’t Have a Stand Mixer)

In bowl or stand mixer combine: 2 tblsp sugar, 1 tblsp kosher salt, 1 tblsp olive oil, 3/4 cup water, 1 cup bread flour, and 1 tsp yeast.

Mix on low until combined. Slowly pour in 1 more cup of bread flour.

Once everything comes together and pulls away from the sides of the bowl (if it doesn’t add a little bit of flour and mix for 30 seconds, repeating as necessary), stop mixing. Dough should be tacky, but not wet. Add 1 tsp garlic powder and 1 tsp dried basil.

Now here comes the hard part if you don’t own a stand mixer. Lightly coat hands or dough hook with olive oil. Knead (by hand if you don’t have mixer with dough hook) on medium for 15 minutes.

Once done kneading remove from bowl. It should remove from hook and bowl easily, barely sticking. Place in glass bowl. Let rest five minutes. When you come back the dough should be smooth, very soft and not sticking to your finger if you run it lightly over the top. Pour two tblsps olive oil over the top and flip dough, coating the ball in olive oil. Cover with saran wrap and refrigerate for 24 hours.

Step Two: The Next Day

Make or purchase your favorite alfredo sauce.

Two and a half hours before dinner remove the dough from the fridge. If you’d like two smaller round pizzas, split dough in half. For one larger rectangular pizza, leave as is. Sprinkle clean counter top with cornmeal. Place dough on cornmeal and cover with damp kitchen towel. Let rise one hour.

Boil 2 split chicken breast in just enough water to cover. When done remove and cool. When cooled remove skin and bones, cube meat. If you’d like to skip the skin and bones part just cook up 2 large boneless skinless chicken breasts (bake or boil so they’re nice and soft on your pizza) and cube.

Fry up some bacon. Let drain, then crumble. Set aside.

Come back and punch down dough. Get towel moist again and cover dough. Let dough rise one more hour.

Brush a red pepper with olive oil and place on plate.

Cut the top and bottom off an onion, remove skin, slice and place on large piece of aluminum foil. Brush slices with olive oil, sprinkle lightly with kosher salt, and fold foil into packet, leaving small crack at top to vent steam.

Wash and slice several roma tomatoes, brush both sides with olive, sprinkle lightly with kosher salt, and set aside on red pepper plate.

Cut top off head of garlic (two if you really like garlic), so tops of cloves are visible. Place on foil, drizzle with oil, sprinkle lightly with salt, and fold foil into packet.

Bring all your veggies outside to the grill. Spray grill with olive oil. Place packets, tomato slices, and red pepper on grill. Turn tomato slices as first side is nicely grilled, then remove when other is done. Place red pepper over hottest section, turning occasionally and letting each side blacken. When everything is done remove, set aside. Put pepper in paper or ziploc bag to steam.

Wait 5 minutes, remove pepper from bag, peel off skin. Slice the pepper open, remove seeds, then slice into strips. Set aside. Remove garlic cloves from skin, mash with fork, set aside.

Punch dough down again. Rub your hands with a little bit of olive oil and begin stretching dough out. Once you can’t get it any further put it back down on the counter and let it stand for 15 minutes. Come back and finish stretching it the rest of the way into shape.

Brush one side of dough with olive oil, place that side down on the grill. It will begin to puff up quickly. Once that side is almost browned to your liking brush top with olive oil. Use tongs to flip. Here’s the catch to grilling the pizza dough. If the grill is hot enough the pizza dough will grill very quickly, solidifying before it sags through the spaces between the bars. It will however burn easily if you don’t watch it VERY carefully. If it does burn it tends to be easily scraped off the bottom with a knife or fork. If the grill isn’t that hot you are less likely to burn, but the dough will cook around the bars and it can be difficult to remove. If you’d like to take extra precautions you can cook the dough on a cookie sheet placed directly on the grill. It will take longer, but be more forgiving. If you do this I suggest when it’s mostly done placing it directly on the grill for 15-30 seconds on each side before moving on to the next steps.

Once second side is browned, remove to cookie sheet.

While letting grill cool down to medium heat, spread your mashed garlic onto the crust. Spread the alfredo sauce over top of it. Cover with the best quality mozzarella you can find/afford (the better it is the better it will taste, but it’s still great with basic shredded mozz). Do NOT use water packed mozzarella. Your pizza will thank you for it. Place fresh basil leaves over the mozzarella. Sprinkle with parmesan. Place grilled tomato slices, roasted red pepper slices, and caramelized onions on pizza. Add cubed chicken and crumbled bacon. I also add sliced kalamata olives because I’m an olive fiend.

Place back on medium heat grill. Cover and cook until cheese it melted and bubbly.

Remove pizza carefully. Sprinkle with parmesan. Serve. Enjoy the most orgasmic pizza ever.