Pizza on the BBQ

While scouring the Sunday newspaper for my usual coupons I came across a recipe for pizza dough and how to cook the pizza on the BBQ.  I have always wanted to try pizza on the grill, but never went to the effort to find a recipe.  I'm glad the recipe found me! 

I know I say 'easy' a lot, but this was truely an easy recipe and the best part is that you can freeze any extra dough for future use.  The only un-easy part is having to let the dough rise, but you could do this the day before or in the afternoon if you're around the house.

My dough, tripled in size after almost four hours of resting/rising.

Some of the toppings... leftover BBQ'd chicken, sauteed red onions, green bell peppers.  I also had some pineapple chunks for my Hawaiian pizza lover and Isernio ground sausage.  Other topping ideas: roasted potato slices, green apple slices, crumbled goat cheese, cooked bacon chunks...

The first step of the baking process, cooking one side of the dough for 3-5 minutes. Our grill is indirect heat, so it took a bit longer.  And if any huge bubbles start to grow in the dough during cooking, just poke with a knife to pop.

Remove the one-side-cooked pizza dough from grill and put toppings on the cooked side.  Now return pizza to grill and cook other side as well as heat up toppings.  Ours took about 5-7 minutes with indirect heat at a temp of 450 degrees.

This pizza dough was a HUGE hit.  I talk'n repeated comments on how good it tasted and how it wasn't soggy.  We already have plans to make this again for my step-brother and family next week.  That good!  And the kids thought it was a blast getting to stretch out their own dough.  Win, Win!

Pizza Dough for the BBQ

1/2c warm water and 1 1/4c room temp water.

1 envelope active dry yeast

2 Tbsp olive oil

4c bread flour

2 tsp table salt

Mix 1/2c warm water and yeast in bowl. Whisk together and let sit until yeast dissolves and expands, about 5 min. Measure in remaining water and oil to yeast mixture.

Meanwhile, pulse flour/salt in food processor with steel blade. Pour liquid mix over flour; mix till dough forms rough soft ball. Continue to process till dough is smooth and satiny, about 30 seconds.

Put dough on floured surface and knead for few seconds to form smooth ball. Place in large bowl spritzed with vegetable cooking spray and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise to double in size, approximately 3 hours.  I suggest placing bowl in a warm area of kitchen or in an oven or microwave (just don't turn either of these on with dough inside!).

Without punching down, dump dough on floured surface and use chef knife or metal dough scraper to halve dough. Punch down remaining half and wrap and refrigerate or freeze. (Total dough Makes enough for 8 mini pizzas.)

Cut the half of dough in to 4 pieces and then stretch to rectangle shape (about 12x4ish) on cornmeal lined baking sheet. I found that ours needed to be a little smaller as to avoid ripping holes in the dough.

Put on grill for a few minutes to brown then remove and place grilled side up on cornmeal lined baking sheet. Put toppings on grilled side of dough and return to grill to cook other side and to heat up toppings, cheese. Anywhere from 3-8minutes.

Homemade Pizza Dinner

We've been craving homemade pizza for dinner.  The problem?  I haven't had time to go to Trader Joe's and I'm not a huge fan of Pillsbury pizza crust in a can.  But when I was at the grocery store on Sunday I walked past this pizza dough in the freezer aisle.  I love The Essential Baking Company, so had to give it a shot!

Only downside to the product?  Aside from thawing instructions, there are no baking directions, and I found no suggestions on their website - even though the label says to check the site out.  So I opted for a 400 degree oven and checked on the pizza after 10 minutes, then every few minutes after that.

To make the sausage topping, I removed the casings from some Isernio's sausages I'd previously thawed and then browned the meat.  (To remove casings you can either slice off the end of the sausage and squeeze out, or slice down the length of the sausage. Super easy.) 

I then sauteed and carmelized sliced red onions in a little olive oil and butter.

Rolled out the dough on a floured surface and then placed on a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper. 

The finished product!

I give two thumbs up to Essential Baking's pizza dough, but the lack of directions was annoying.  If you can't get to Trader Joe's for their dough, give this brand a shot next time you're at the grocery. YUM!

Pecan Sticky Rolls

I saw a recipe in the Seattle Times which looked too tasty and easy to be true.  Homemade (okay, semi-homemade) Brown Sugar and Pecan sticky rolls.  I couldn't resist giving them a shot, especially since the main ingredient is pizza dough - either made from scratch or store bought.

After rolling dough to the correct size, covering with butter, rerolling and chilling for a short period, you sprinkle with the sugar mixture, nuts and butter.

Roll in to a log...

Slice log in to twelve rolls...

Place in greased 9x13 baking dish and bake 30-40 minutes.

And presto - a most delicious smelling breakfast treat!

There was a MAJOR flaw in my finished product unfortunately.  The smell, the look, the flavor, the gooeyness were all amazing.  The texture was dreadful.  The rolls were super chewy and very tough to bit in to.  I should have listened to my instincts when I noticed the pizza dough I had chosen was very stretchy and did not want to hold it's shape. I had to use my hands to finally get it in a rectangle. I won't mention names, but I purchased it from my local market in the frozen section - shaped similar to a hockey puck.  And a hocky puck it should be.  If I make these again I will either use Trader Joe's refrigerated dough or try making dough from scratch.

Brown Sugar and Pecan Sticky Buns, courtesy of Seattle Times and Everyday Food

Makes 12 rolls

All-purpose flour for the work surface

1 recipe Basic Pizza Dough (see above) or 2 pounds store-bought pizza dough, thawed if frozen

1 cup plus 6 tablespoons unsalted butter (2 3/4 sticks), room temperature, divided

1 cup packed dark-brown sugar

1 1/2 cups pecans, chopped

1/2 teaspoon coarse salt

1. On a floured work surface, roll dough to a 10-by-18-inch rectangle. Dot upper two-thirds of dough with 1 cup butter, fold bottom third of dough over half the butter, then fold top third down to cover remaining dough. Roll dough to a 10-by-18-inch rectangle. Refrigerate on a baking sheet until firm, about 1 hour (or up to 1 day covered with plastic wrap).

2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Remove plastic wrap from dough. In a small bowl, combine sugar, pecans and salt. Leaving a 1/2-inch border, dot dough with 6 tablespoons butter and sprinkle with sugar mixture. Starting at a long end, roll up dough like a jelly roll. Cut crosswise into 12 pieces. Place each piece, cut side down, into two buttered jumbo muffin pans or a buttered 9-by-13-inch baking pan.

3. Bake until golden brown and cooked through, about 30 to 40 minutes, rotating pans halfway through. Immediately invert buns onto a serving platter or baking sheet. Serve warm.

Note: This recipe works well with store-bought dough, but it's exceptional with homemade.

Pizza

Tony is away at a guys dinner tonight leaving me with the two kids.  Usually I'd think about eating out for a break in the kitchen, but tonight I was in the mood for homemade pizza.  I purchased all the ingredients at Whole Foods.  Fresh dough, sauce, cheese, fresh turkey sausages (mild since Blake would be eating it), goat cheese, red onions and tomatoes.

I put the pizza stone in the oven and turned oven to 400 degrees.  While Blakely spread the sauce on the dough I quickly pan seared the sausages and sliced red onion.

Once the sausages and onions were browned and tomatoes were sliced we were then ready to assemble our masterpizza!

Blake was loving his job and pizza maker.  (Disregard the piles of clean dishes in the background.  I had just finished making cookie dough for a baby shower...)

One fantastic looking pizza, with two pizzas worth of toppings going in the oven!

Nothing beats a great meal made together with my favorite sous chef.