Playing in the Kitchen: Homemade Pizza Dough (On the Grill!)

Grilled Pizza. If I had a food truck, I’d definitely want to sell this. Cost of ingredients are fairly low, cooking time is reasonably short, and it tastes delicious!

It reminds me a little bit of cooking Pizza in a brick oven. It’s cooked at a high heat for a short amount of time, and the crust takes on a different texture than what you get from a standard oven.

I’ve adapted this recipe from a pizza/focaccia dough recipe from Tyler Florence. When I first read the recipe, I thought it would turn out super salty. The important thing to note is that you’re using Kosher salt, not your standard salt shaker salt. And the crust will come out just fine!

Pizza Dough

• 1 package active dry yeast
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 cup warm (100 degrees F to 110 degrees F) water
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting

In a mixing bowl, combine the yeast, sugar and warm water and stir gently to dissolve. Let the mixture stand until the yeast comes alive and starts to foam, 5 to 10 minutes.

While gently stiring the yeast mixture with a wooden spoon, add the salt and 1 tablespoon of olive oil.

Add the flour, a little at a time, stirring after each addition, until the flour has been incorporated. Continue to stir until the dough gathers into a ball. This should take about 5 minutes.

Make sure to scrape the dough/flour from the side of the bowl as you go. If the dough seems crumbly, add more water. If it seems too sticky, add more flour.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and fold it over itself a few times, kneading until it’s smooth and elastic (about 5 minutes).

Form the dough into a round and put it into a lightly oiled bowl, turning it over to coat the dough entirely with the oil. Cover with plastic wrap or a damp towel and let it rise in a warm spot until doubled in size, at least 1 hour.

Divide the dough into 4 (this will make 4 personal sizes pizzas). Roll out each piece to 1/4 inch thick. Lay the pieces on the back of a well floured cookie sheet (or Pizza Paddle if you have one). Push your fingers into the dough, creating dimples. Brush the dough with the remaining olive oil. Let it rise for another hour or so.

When grilling your pizza, I recommend having all of your sauce/cheese/toppings ready to go (everything comes together pretty quickly. For our pizza above, I made a pizza sauce that ended up being super spicy, diced some grilled jalapeno smoked sausages, and used a bag of pre-grated mozzarella cheese.

Grilled Pizza

Pre-heat your grill, and let it get VERY hot to prevent sticking.

Turn your dough, oiled side DOWN onto the grill. Brush olive oil on the top-side of the dough.
The dough will be ready to flip after about 2 minutes. It will look a little chard and be set/not floppy. Cook the remaining side for a few minutes, then turn off your grill.

Add sauce, cheese, and toppings, then close the grill. The residual heat will melt everything together.

If you don’t have a gas grill or the residual heat doesn’t completely melt the cheese, you can stick the pizza under your oven broiler for a minute or so.

Whether you use store bought pizza dough, dough from your local pizzeria, or make your own… you should really try grilling it! And don’t worry if it’s not a perfect circle, it’ll look more “rustic” that way.