Rediscovering Grilled Pizza
America's favorite food has long been the pizza cooked in a
traditional oven but is that about to change? While most
Americans have probably never indulged in a grilled pizza, the
origins of pizza are making a big comeback. There is no denying
that we love our traditional backyard barbeque but rarely, if
ever has the barbeque included grilling a pizza. Despite the
seemingly odd combination of grill and pizza, the grill is the
ideal tool for cooking pizza and in fact is deep in the origin
of pizza making. The high, dry heat is ideal for a nice crisp
crust and the flavor provided from your grill will on a whole
new world of backyard grilling.
Before the word pizza was ever used, Greeks and Romans used
wood-fired brick ovens to prepare the original version of pizza
- flatbread. In ancient times each diner was given a piece of
flat bread along with a piece of meat on the bread. This food
was eaten with the fingers with an occasional knife to cut the
meat. Little did they know that this would eventually spark the
creation one of the America's favorite foods.
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Grilled Pizza Techniques:
Ingredients:
1 teaspoon dried yeast
1 tablespoon soy oil
1 teaspoon sugar
½ cup warm water (110°F)
1 ½ cup bread flour
1 tablespoon soy flour
1 teaspoon salt
Instructions:
Combine yeast, sugar and ½ cup very warm water in bowl, let sit
for five minutes. Combine flour and salt in bowl. Mix yeast
mixture with bowl containing dry ingredients. Add a little
extra flour if dough is sticky. Knead for a good 10 minutes.
Put into a greased bowl and let rise for 60 minutes until it
doubles in size. Turn out onto a floured surface then knead
lightly until smooth. Roll out into a ¼" thick, 12" diameter
circle. The thinner the dough is rolled, the better.
Before placing your crust on the grill, be sure that your grill
is both clean and well oiled. This will help prevent the dough
from sticking to the grill. You will need something large
enough to transport your dough to the grill. A pizza spatula is
highly recommended for this task. Brush an even coat of extra
virgin olive oil on the side that will be facing down first.
The oil will introduce flavor and help to keep the dough from
sticking to the grill as well as giving the crust a nice crisp
finish. Before placing your pizza on the grill, you may want to
remove the top rack of your grill to make it easier to flip your
pizza. Cook the first side from 1-3 minutes before flipping
depending on the heat of your grill. During this time you will
need to brush olive oil on the side that is facing up. While
cooking the first side, peak under the edge of the crust to
monitor its finish. Cook until you are satisfied with the
finish and then flip your crust over. After flipping,
immediately apply any topping that you would like.
It's highly
recommended that you keep the topping very light, as they will
not have a chance to cook on the grill without burning the
crust. You may consider precooking certain ingredients such as
meats and thick vegetables. Be sure to lower the lid as soon as
possible to trap the heat in and finish cooking the toppings.
Cook the pizza for an additional 2-3 minutes or until you are
satisfied with the crust's finish.
You are now ready to experience one great pizza with deep
tradition. Cut your pizza into triangle shaped slices or try
cutting them into 1" wide strips. This shape is great for a
party snacks!
About The Author: Scott Schirkofsky is the chef and owner of At
Home Gourmet. You can find more recipes, cooking tips along with
food and beverage articles on his highly recommended website:
http://www.athomegourmet.com. Scott
is also the owner of
http://www.americasfavoritefood.com and
http://www.thetravelassistant.com. |
