Excellent pizza fired up on the grill provides a great excuse to enjoy food away from the kitchen! Ready in less than 30 minutes and grills in less than 10 minutes! Grilling makes the dough incredibly crispy and delicious!
Every Friday night we have pizza night! Pizza night is my favorite night because it is so easy to make and we can all have it made our individual ways. And we change up the variety of our pizza by trying new toppings each week. The boys favorite is with pepperoni and I try to sneak a few veggies under the cheese. I like mine with no cheese and loaded with vegetables so high you can’t get your mouth around it without a veggie tower tumbling over!
We skipped pizza night this week since I was at a fun birthday happy hour with girlfriends last night. Usually we cut ourselves off around 6:00pm before the hubbies come home. Just enough time to get home, feed anyone (if they forgot to eat from too much play) and get the munchkins to bed. Only last night we visited until almost 8:00pm! So no pizza night last night.
Since this weekend is Memorial Day we will definitely be making up for our missed pizza night and making our excellent grilled pizza on Monday! Along with other favorites like grilled artichoke and this delicious and easy potato salad. What are your staple foods to make for summer holiday parties?
Usually pizza is prepared in our kitchen and baked on incredibly high heat in the oven. My husband loves his pizza crust thin with fluffy thick edges. He always dips the bread-stick like edges in Ranch dressing. Me? I prefer my fluffy pizza dough without any dressing. After all, my homemade pizza dough tastes way to good to coat it in any other flavor other than marinara sauce!
Now go ahead and turn the average homemade pizza pie into a crispy crowd-pleasing gourmet excellent pizza! I’ll guide you along the way:-)
4 Proven Steps To The Perfect Grilled Pizza Recipe
- Oil both sides for the crust with olive oil and spray the grill with cooking spray. Only a little, not too much oil or else it will be soggy.
- Have the heat on high for extra crispy pizza crust.
- Make the crust thin, but thick enough to handle.
- Make mini pizzas to grill, about 6″ – 8″ rounds. They are easier to handle.
- Grill 4-6 minutes on each side.
MAKE THE PIZZA DOUGH
To make the perfect pizza crust is learning how to make pizza dough… fluffy and fresh! Big C usually kneads the dough for us and the longer the better. Kneading the dough forces air out and with the rising process makes it fluffy! Vegan dough only needs a few ingredients but you can use one that has egg if you’d like. I have made pizza dough both ways and enjoy it without eggs (one less step!).
Let the yeast soak in warm water for 5 minutes. This allows the yeast to activate and the dough to do its magic! Then add some olive oil, honey and salt. Mix well. Then add the flour and mix until well combined. Add more flour if needed. Then let the dough rise for a few hours covered in a warm place. Punch the dough down to release any air. Then it is ready!
PREPARE THE PIZZA TOPPINGS
Popular meats to use are pepperoni, ham, sausage, chicken, Sicilian chicken, and prosciutto. Fruit and vegetable toppings include caramelized onions, roasted red peppers and green peppers, mushrooms, zucchini, squash, eggplant, sun dried tomatoes, pepperoncini (Tuscan Peppers), pineapple and fig.
When preparing the toppings make sure everything is sliced and cooked. Especially important with some veggie pizza recipes if you load the crust high. Sauteing the vegetables and draining out the water before adding them as toppings makes for a quicker cooked pizza.
GRILL YOUR EXCELLENT PIZZA
Now the delicious part! When making grilled pizza it is best to work with little personal pan sized pizza crusts. It is easier to handle. Roll out the dough very thin and make small 8″-12″ size pizza pies. Fold the edges over if you prefer fluffy bread crusts. Then baste each side of the crust with olive oil to prevent sticking. Preheat the grill to high. Spray or oil grill with to ensure no sticking. Then lay pizza crust face down and close the grill. Cook for about 4 minutes. Then add more olive oil to the top and flip the crust. Add toppings of choice and close the grill. Cook for about 4-6 minutes or until the crust is slightly browned and appears done. Then go ahead and enjoy the most excellent pizza ever made!
- 1 prepared pizza dough
- 1 cup marinara sauce
- ½ onion
- ½ green bell pepper, sliced
- ½ red bell pepper, sliced
- ¼ cup zucchini, diced
- 1 cup of cooked chicken, chopped, shredded or diced
- 1 cup of cheese (your choice- feta, goat cheese, Parmesan, or mozzarella)
- basil for garnish
- Roll out the dough very thin and make small 8"-12" size pizza pies. Fold the edges over if you prefer fluffy bread crusts. Then baste each side of the crust with olive oil to prevent sticking.
- Heat the grill on high for 30 minutes to warm.
- Spray with cooking spray to ensure no sticking. Then lay the pizza crust down and close the grill. Cook for about 4 minutes. Then add more olive oil to the top of the crust and flip it to cook the other side.
- Add marinara sauce, cheese and toppings of choice and close the grill. Cook for about 4-6 minutes or until the crust is slightly browned and appears done.
- *Important to make mini pizzas to grill, about 6" - 8" rounds. They are easier to handle. Also do not oil the pizza too much. Just coat very lightly.
More Excellent Pizza Recipes:
Cauliflower Pizza Crust Recipe
I’ve been wanting to try this for a while now, and I think you just gave me the final push I needed! These look incredible!