Homemade Pizzas on the Outdoor Grill
When we lived in Mesa, AZ we were introduced to the art of making pizzas on the outdoor grill. Grilling outside is a means of survival in the Arizona desert, and there are really only a few months out of the year when you dare to turn on your oven to bake in your kitchen. Okay, that might be a slight over-exaggeration, but certainly, in the summer months, the oven was off-limits for us. As you know, every Friday is pizza night at our house, and even though we live in Utah now, it can get too hot to turn our oven on as well. If you find yourself in a similar predicament–wanting homemade pizza in the summer months without heating up your kitchen–here is your solution. I make my own Whole Wheat Pizza Dough Recipe, but you can buy pre-made dough as well. Enjoy!
Homemade Pizzas on the Outdoor Grill
Equipment
- outdoor grill
- bosch mixer
Ingredients
Whole Wheat Pizza Dough
- 2 Cups Water at 80°F
- 2 teaspoons Active Dry Yeast
- 1/4 Cup Olive Oil
- 2 teaspoons Salt
- 4 3/4 Cup Whole Wheat Flour approximate
Pizza Toppings
- 1 tbsp olive oil divided
- 24 oz Tomato Sauce divided
- 4 Cups Mozzarella Cheese shredded
- 6 oz Canadian Bacon sliced
- 10 oz Pineapple Canned
- 4 oz Pepperoni sliced
- 1 Cup Ground Sausage cooked
Instructions
- Light your outdoor grill and heat to medium high or about 300 degrees. Grease three, 12-inch round pizza pans with cooking spray. Also, grease a pizza paddle and sprinkle with corn meal. Set aside.
- Set up your mixer with the heavy dough hook inserted. Add yeast and warm water to mixer and let it sit for 2-3 minutes. Mix olive oil and salt into the yeast water.
- Add half the flour to the wet ingredients and begin mixing on the lowest setting. Slowly add no more than 1/2 cup of additional flour at a time. Once the dough begins to "clean off" the sides of the bowl as it mixes, stop adding flour. Increase the mixing speed to the medium setting and mix for 6 minutes.
- Grease hands with a bit of oil. Pull out of the mixer three equal portions of dough, shaping into balls, and place in the center of each pizza pan.
- Using the palm of one hand, press the dough ball into the pan as you slowly spin the pan with your other hand. The crusts should fill the 12-inch diameter pans and be about 1/2 inch thick. (See Notes)
- Poke several holes in the dough with a fork. This prevents large bubbles from forming in the crust. Flip the crust onto the greased and cornmeal-covered pizza paddle. Brush 1/2 teaspoon of olive oil onto the top of the crust on the pizza paddle.
- Hold the handle of the pizza paddle and transfer to the outdoor grill by flipping the oiled side over onto the hot grates. Grill the crust for about 2 minutes. While the bottom is cooking, brush the top with another 1/2 teaspoon of olive oil. Transfer from the grates to the pizza paddle with a long metal spatula. Repeat this process with all three crusts.
- Add your sauce and toppings to the COOKED SIDE of each pizza crust. Return to the grill (uncooked side down) and immediately close the lid. Cook for an additional 5 minutes or or until the bottom is medium-brown and the cheese on top is melted.
- Cut pizza into 8 slices and serve immediately.
