Grilled California Pizzas

Grilled California Pizzas

From Ina Garten’s “The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook”

For the Dough:

• 1 1/4 cups warm (100 to 110 degrees F) water
• 2 packages dry yeast
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 3 tablespoons good olive oil
• 4 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for kneading
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt

For the Toppings (select up to 8):

• 1 red onion, thinly sliced
• 1 pound fresh mozzarella, grated
• 1/2 pound Italian Fontina, grated
• 1/2 pound mild goat cheese, such as Montrachet, sliced
• 1 red or yellow bell pepper, cored, seeded, and julienned
• 1/4 pound prosciutto, thinly sliced and julienned
• 1 bunch arugula, cleaned and dried
• 6 plum tomatoes, sliced 1/4-inch thick
• 4 pork or turkey sausages, cooked and sliced
• 1 bunch basil leaves, cleaned and dried
• 4 garlic cloves, roasted
• Crushed red pepper flakes

For Prep:

• 1/2 cup good olive oil
• Cornmeal

1. For the Dough: Combine the water, yeast, honey, and olive oil in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook. Add 3 cups flour, then the salt, and mix. While mixing, add 1 more cup of flour, or enough to make a soft dough. Knead the dough on low to medium speed for about 10 minutes until smooth, sprinkling it with flour, if necessary, to keep it from sticking to the bowl.When the dough is ready, turn it out onto a floured board and knead by hand a dozen times. It should be smooth and elastic. Place the dough in a well-oiled bowl and turn it several times to cover it lightly with oil. Cover the bowl with a kitchen towel. Allow the dough to rest at room temperature for 30 minutes.

2. Divide the dough into 6 equal parts and roll each one into a smooth ball. Place the balls on a baking sheet and cover them with a damp towel. Allow the dough to rest for 10 minutes. Use immediately, or refrigerate for up to 4 hours.

3. If you’ve chilled the dough, take it out of the refrigerator approximately 30 minutes ahead to let it come to room temperature. Roll and stretch each ball into a rough 8-inch circle and place them all on baking sheets sprinkled with cornmeal. (You will be able to fit 2 pizzas on each 18 by 13-inch baking sheet.)

4. Light your grill and wait until it’s hot.

5. Place the pizzas directly onto the grill and cook on 1 side for 1 minute. Turn the pizzas over and brush with olive oil or garlic oil.

6. Top the pizzas with any toppings you wish, piling them high. Drizzle each pizza with 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Put the lid on your grill and cook for 5 minutes more, until the crust is crisp and the toppings are cooked.

Breakfast Pizza

I made the following pizza for supper even though technicaly it is suppossed to be eaten for breakfast.  We were having pizza for supper becuase it was movie night in our house.  We have started a new movie night tradition in our house, eaten pizza while watching our movie.  Since I do not want to repeat a meal I decided to try this breakfast pizza.  It was okay, it probably would have been better for breakfast.  I like sauce and lots of meat on my pizza this pizza was a little lacking in that department but I guess next time I could add more meat.  Anyway if you want a different breakfast or supper try it !

Breakfast Pizza

Makes 2 (12-inch) pizzas

1/2 teaspoon dry active yeast

2 cups plus 2 tablespoons bread flour, plus more for dusting
Kosher salt
6 strips bacon
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
2 cups grated mozzarella
6 large eggs
Freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons minced flat-leaf parsley
2 tablespoons minced chives
2 scallions, thinly sliced
1 shallot, minced

The night before, prepare the dough: Place 3/4 cup lukewarm water in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook. Sprinkle in the yeast, stir and let sit for 5 minutes. Add the flour and 1 teaspoon of salt and mix on low for 1 minute. Increase the speed to medium and mix for 2 minutes, then increase the speed to high and mix until a smooth dough forms, about 2 minutes more. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface, divide into two equal pieces and form each half into a tight ball. Place on a large floured sheet pan, place the pan in a plastic garbage bag, tie the bag loosely and refrigerate overnight.

One to two hours* before baking, place the dough in a warm spot. Adjust the oven rack to the lowest position and set a pizza stone on it. Preheat the oven to 500 degrees 30 minutes before you are ready to bake the pizza.

Prepare the dough and toppings: Fry the bacon in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat until crisp. Cool on a paper-towel-lined plate; roughly chop.

Dip your hands and a ball of dough into the flour. On a lightly floured countertop, pat the dough into a disc with your fingertips, then drape the dough over your fists and carefully stretch it from beneath to form a 12-inch circle.

Generously dust the surface of a pizza peel or large inverted sheet pan with flour and place the stretched dough on it. Sprinkle the dough with half of the Parmesan, mozzarella and bacon. Crack 3 eggs over the top and season with salt and pepper.

Bake the pizza: Shake the pizza peel slightly to make sure the dough is not sticking. Carefully lift any sections that are sticking and sprinkle a bit more flour underneath, then slide the pizza directly onto the baking stone in one quick forward-and-back motion. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, rotating after 5 minutes. When the crust is golden, the cheese is melted and the egg yolks are cooked, use the peel to transfer the pizza to a cutting board. Sprinkle half of the parsley, chives, scallions and shallot on top. Let cool for 2 minutes, slice and serve immediately. Prepare the second pizza in the same way.

Spaghetti and Meatball Calzones

This is part two of the 30  mintue spaghetti and meatball post.  These were really easy to make and tasty.  Best of all thier was no complianing from my kids.  They all ate thier clazones and liked them.  I will have to remember this for future meals.

Spaghetti and Meatball Calzones

Ingredients

• All-purpose flour, for work surface
• 1 pumpkin pizza dough cut into 4 equal pieces
• 8 meatballs, halved, and 1 1/2 cups sauce reserved from 30-Minute Spaghetti and Meatballs
• 8 ounces fresh grated mozzarella
• 1/2 teaspoon red-pepper flakes (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
2. On a lightly floured work surface, roll each piece of dough into an 8-inch round. In a medium bowl, stir together reserved meatballs and sauce, cheese, and red-pepper flakes (if using). Season with salt and pepper. With a slotted spoon, divide mixture among bottom halves of dough rounds, leaving a 1-inch border. Fold top half of each round over filling and roll and pinch edges to seal. Carefully transfer calzones to baking sheet. Brush tops lightly with oil and season with salt and pepper. Bake until calzones are golden brown, 15 to 18 minutes.

BBQ Pulled Pork and Spicy Pecan Gravy Heart Pizza

As a special treat for my husband I made him this heart pizza (yes that is a heart).  Since I was on a roll of cleaning out my freezer I topped it with leftover pulled pork and some of that yummy pecan gravy mixed with a little cola BBQ sauce.  I aslo sauteed some onions and portebella mushrooms and put then on top and the covered the whole thing in cheese.  I know that it looks burndt but trust me it was not adn it tasted really good!  So if you tried the pork with the pecan gravy make a pizza and use up that leftover sauce!

Grilled Tandoori chicken and Steak Pizza

So last week I told you that I recently discovered pizza on the grill and I am loving it.  My sister is over visiting from India and we invited her over for supper tonight.  As it was a special occasion I decided to make my new favourite meal, Grilled Pizza.  However I did have to make it different than last week or else I would have had two meals the same and that is just not allowed.  So change things up I first grilled Tandoori Chicken in honour of her visit from India.  I made a spice rub, rubbed it into the chicken and let it sit for about half an hour and then grilled it.  I think that the chicken tasted really good but she said while it was tasty it did not taste like tandoori chicken, here is the original tandoori chicken recipe.  I little sad but at least it was good.  I topped this pizza with the homemade hummus from last week.   I also made a steak rub and rubbed it into the steak and grilled it off.  This pizza was topped with homemade pesto.  The pesto recipe is listed below.  While I was grilling the meat I also grilled a red pepper, some green onions and a couple of zucchini.

Steak Rub
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon garlic salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground  onion
2 TBSP of vegetable oil

Combine the spices in a small bowl.  Brush both sides of the meat with 2 tablespoons of oil.  Rub remianing spice mixture over steak.  Grill to desired temperature.

Tandoori Chicken


Ingredients
2 tablespoons onion powder
2 tablespoons garlic powder
2 tablespoons ground ginger
2 tablespoons ground coriander
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon ground cayenne
1 tablespoon ground turmeric
1 tablespoon ground white pepper
1 tablespoon kosher salt
3 (8-ounce) boneless skinless chicken breasts

Directions
Heat grill to medium-high. Combine all spices and the oil in a medium bowl to make a paste. Rub a thin layer of the spice paste onto 1 side of each chicken breast. Grill for 3 to 4 minutes on each side or until slightly charred and just cooked through. Remove from the grill, let rest 5 minutes, and cut lengthwise into 1/2-inch thick slices.
Pesto
Place 40 grams of basil leaves, 2 TBSP toasted pine nuts, 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese and 4 TBSP of oil in a food processor and pulse. When combined check the seasoning and add salt and pepper if needed and more oil if needed.
For the pizza:
1store bought or homemade Pizza dough. Heat the grill to high. Roll out the Pizza dough into about 6 inch circles. Brush both sides of the pizzas with oil and season with salt and pepper. Grill until golden brown on one side, about 2 minutes per side.
Top each pizza with the pesto. For Pizza number 1 arrange any or all of the veggies and thinly sliced steak on top of the pesto and top with the feta cheese. Season with salt and pepper. Place the bread back on the grill, close the cover and grill for 5 minutes to heat through. Repeat this process using thinly sliced chicken instead of the steak.

Grilled Pizza

Lately we have really been enjoying grilled pizza. We tried it for the first time earlier this summer and we just cannot seem to get enough of it. The challenge has been coming up with ways to make the pizza different and original. For today's pizza I adapted one of Bobby Flay's recipe which you can find here.  We made two different kinds of pizza. One topped with hummus, grilled peppers, spicy sausage, grilled green onions and feta cheese. The second was topped with hummus, grilled peppers, grilled chicken, feta, grilled green onions and arugala. They were both good. However our favourite part of pizza night is the dessert pizza. It tastes like a warm elephant ear from the county fair. This was again adapted from a Bobby Flay recipe.  We topped our grilled pizza with warm grilled peaches, vanilla ice-cream and left over caramel sauce. So good and yummy. I highly recommend making and eating this.

Spicy Hummus:
· 2 cups canned chickpeas
· 4 cloves garlic
· 2 teaspoons chili powder

· 1 teaspoon cumin
· 2 tablespoons lemon juice
· 1 tablespoon honey
· 1 grilled red pepper
· 2 tablespoons tahini
· 1/4 cup olive oil
· Salt and freshly ground black pepper


· Grill the pepper. Place in a bowl and cover with saran wrap. When cool cover peel the skin. Place chickpeas, garlic, chili pepper, cumin, lemon juice, honey, pepper and tahini in the bowl of a food processor and process until smooth. With the machine running, slowly add the olive oil until emulsified. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

o 1/2 Pizza Dough, rolled into 2 (10-inch) rounds
o Canola oil
o 1 grilled yellow pepper, cut into strips
o 3 grilled scallions, thinly sliced
o 1 grilled sausage thinly sliced
o 1 grilled chicken breast thinly sliced
o Salt and freshly ground black pepper
o 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
o 1/4 cup arugala leaves

For the pizza:
Use store bought or homemade Pizza dough. Heat the grill to high. Brush both sides of the pizzas with oil and season with salt and pepper. Grill until golden brown on both sides, about 2 minutes per side.


Top each pizza with the spicy hummus. Arrange any or all of the veggies and meat on top of the hummus and top with the feta cheese. Season with salt and pepper. Place the bread back on the grill, close the cover and grill for 5 minutes to heat through. Remove and add fresh arugala.

Dessert Pizza
Ingredients


· 1 store-bought pizza dough
· 3 tablespoons canola oil
· 1/4 cup granulated sugar
· 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
· 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
· 1/2 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
· Peaches
·
Directions
Heat the grill to high.
Brush both sides of each pizza with the oil. Grill until golden brown on both sides, about 2 minutes per side. Remove from the grill.
Cut peaches in half. Remove the pit. Brush with canola oil. Grill until grill marks show and peaches are tender.
Mix together the sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg in a small bowl. Brush the tops of each pizza with the butter and sprinkle with the sugar mixture. Place back on the grill, close the cover and cook an additional 1 minute. Cut into quarters and drizzle with the warm butterscotch sauce.