Tips and Techniques for Perfect Pizza on the Barbeque

I am a huge pizza fan, but only for homemade. Frozen pizza and delivery pizza just don’t hold up! My house gets so warm in the summer, so I am always cooking outdoors on the barbeque. Pizza is a favorite! I not only make pizza with this crust recipe, but breadsticks and flatbreads.

In light of this, I thought I would share my pizza crust recipe and how I grill them on the barbeque!

Pizza Crust Recipe

3 ½ to 4 cups of all purpose flour

1 ¼ cups warm water

1 tablespoon yeast

½ teaspoon ground black pepper

½ teaspoon sea salt

¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

First, start off by “blooming” 1 tablespoon of yeast in 1 ¼ cups warm water. Make sure the water is not too warm, or you’ll kill the yeast. The water should feel just barely warm. Add the yeast and stir together. Allow to sit for about 5 minutes. You should see some little bubbles on the top.

In a large food processor (or, you can use a mixter, or stir together by hand) fitted with a dough blade, add 3 cups flour and ½ teaspoon each ground black pepper and sea salt. Add ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil. With food processor running, add yeast mixture. This should form a sticky dough. Add ½ -1 cup more flour, until mixture holds together is just barely sticky. Lightly coat a large bowl with olive oil. Form dough into a large ball, place in bowl, turn to coat in oil, and allow dough to raise until doubled in size.

To prep your crust for the barbeque, brush a cutting board with oil. Place a piece of dough on the cutting board, brush the top, then form into a rough circular shape. Flatten into ¼ inch to ½ inch.

Place onto a med grill, directly onto the grate.

Cook for about 1 minute – you will see some large bubbles begin to form, as in picture above.

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Flip the crust, then begin topping it with your choice of toppings, beginning with sauce.

Spread the sauce of choice first, then top with assorted toppings, followed by cheese. Close the lid to melt the cheese. Keep an eye on the bottom crust, you don’t want it to burn. If the crust looks like it’s done, pizza can be moved to the top rack in the barbeque to melt the cheese. Remove to a cutting board, slice, and serve! In the picture above, this pizza is topped with a creamy garlic sauce, spinach, grilled zucchini, artichoke hearts, and fresh mozzarella, gorgonzola, monterey jack, and mozzarella cheeses.

 This one is topped with marinara, Canadian bacon, grilled chicken, sliced red pepper, crimini mushrooms, and monterey jack and mozzarella cheeses.

Here are some pizza topping suggestions:

Pepperoni, Canadian bacon, bacon, grilled chicken, sausage,

Grilled zucchini, grilled eggplant, artichoke hearts, olives, pineapple, sliced fresh or roasted peppers, jalepenos, mushrooms, onions, spinach, fresh basil, sliced fresh tomatoes (I love heirlooms!)

Assorted cheeses, such as fresh mozzarella, gorgonzola, Monterey jack, Parmesan, ricotta, and cheddar.

Here is the finished white pizza, topped with some fresh basil once it's removed from the grill. If you add the basil while the pizza is still on the heat, it will turn brown.

And, served it up with a fresh peach daquiri to make a satisfying dinner!