Adventures In Grilling Pizza

Yup, we are in the midst of a global pandemic. We are all spending way more time in our homes than usual and for some of us who are not working, that means ALL of our time in our homes. While I have watched all these people teach themselves how to knit, learn Mandarin, choreograph family dance routines and bake sourdough bread four times a day, I have been allowing myself to do nothing. Doing nothing is an option, by the way. Doing nothing has been my way of coping, of keeping myself calm and hold the zombie apocalypse fears at bay. We can't all be A type git' er done people and we all do what we need to do to stay sane.

We are eating well but my guys really miss pizza and I am not super comfortable ordering it out. I am not at the full on paranoid, pressure washing my mail stage, but I do feel more comfortable ordering food that I can pour into my own pots and reheat, like Thai or Indian food. We have also had a couple of great meal kits from some of our favourite local restaurants - you pick up your precooked or partially cooked food items, take it home and cook or reheat it later, following the instructions that come with it. We have picked up a pizza a couple of times but it stresses me out.

But, yeah, pizza. It's not like we don't make it at home but I will be honest and admit that I never make my own dough. I live in Toronto so I do what everyone does.... I buy fabulous, freshly made dough from one of the 5 billion Italian bakeries. I am sure that many of these bakeries are still open but we are keeping the whole going out to shop thing to a bare minimum (I have been inside a small store down the street a total of three times since the first week of March).

Time to make my own dough.

Because I am no idiot, I turned to Serious Eats to see what Kenji Lopez had to say. He, of course, has a recipe for the three basic doughs everyone should know: Neapolitan, NY style and a thicker, focaccia like Sicilian style. My favourite is the Neapolitan but the NY dough looked easier and I wanted to be able to only make one pie at a time, so I started with that. It's kind of a hybrid between NY style pizza crust and my favourite Neapolitan style Margherita toppings.

It's super easy to make and utilizes a food processor although if your processor is not huge, you will have to do it in two batches. I used a scaled to divide my ingredients but I think it work out if you used cups/tsp measures as well. I whipped up the dough, divided into three portions, as advised, and stored it in three ziplocks in the fridge for two days.

I dug out my cracked baking stone ( I knew there was a reason I couldn't bring myself to throw it out) and we cooked them on the stone in our Webber charcoal grill. I haven't mastered the art of pulling the dough into a nice, thin circle but, no matter, it was pretty damned delicious. I also used way too much fresh mozzarella but , again, who complains about too much cheese. Stay tuned for Neapolitan style pizza - I am dying to make a white pizza with garlicky greens and chilis and, let's be honest, I have nothing but time to make it.

NY Style Pizza on the Grill  

makes three 12" pizzas

1 recipe NY style dough from Serious Eats
ingredients:
630g/ (22.5 ounces or about 4 1/2 cups of bread flour (I used all purpose and it was fine)
15g /.5 ounces or 1 1/2 tbls sugar
10g / .35 ounces or about 1 tbls kosher salt
10 g/ .35 or about 2 tsp ounces instant yeast
31 g/ 1.125 ounces for about 3 tbls extra virgin olive oil
426g/15 ounces or about 1 3/4 cup lukewarm water

Tomato sauce:
1 can san marzano tomatoes, strained, discarding juice and pureed OR strained passata
about 2 tbls olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced or grated on a rasp
good pinch kosher salt and a few grinds of black pepper

1 250g ball of fresh mozzarella or as much as you like, it's your pizza
about 1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan
A few leaves of fresh basil, torn
extra virgin olive oil

You will need flour for forming the pizza and a couple handfuls of cornmeal and a wooden cutting board if you don't have a pizza peel

Remove your dough from the fridge at least 2 hours before you are going to make your pizza. Shape the balls by gathering the dough towards the bottom and pinch it shut, flour it and place it in a bowl - if you are doing all three pizzas, do it with each one and put them in three separate bowls. Cover with plastic wrap and let it rise until it doubles in volume.

While your dough is resting, make the sauce. Mix your strained tomatoes with olive oil, kosher salt and garlic and let it sit at room temperature.

Cut your ball of fresh mozzarella into thin slices.

Put a pizza stone on your bbq grill and preheat your grill to get it as hot as possible. If you are using gas, crank it all the way up and if you are using coals, get your coals going first and then put the stone on the grill, put the cover on with the vents open and let it sit for at least half an hour.

To make your pizza, flour the counter and throw down one of the three portions of dough and gently press it out until you have a circle that's about 8" in diameter. This is where it gets sticky. Either keep pressing the dough outward, until its about 12" in diameter, sort of flop it around from hand to hand or you can try draping it over your knuckles to do so - I recommend watching this video because it's fun and informative - we are using the Serious Eats recipe so just watch for the actual methods of pinching the dough to form it into balls to proof and dealing with it to make the actual pizza.
These guys in the Epicurious kitchen are always a good watch

So, now you sprinkle cornmeal on to your pizza peel or your cutting board and gently transfer your pizza crust to that. The cornmeal helps it slide off the peel/cutting board and onto the stone and it doesn't burn like flour does.

Add sauce to the crust (leaving that nice raised 1/2" border you have left around the outside) and spread it around so it's evenly but thinly coated. Scatter 1/3 of the fresh mozzarella on the pizza, drizzle with a bit of olive oil, add a handful of freshly grated parmesan and a bit of the fresh basil.
*If you want, before you add the parmesan, you can also add black olive, some sautéed mushrooms, chili flakes or hot peppers, some sauteed greens or crumbled, cooked Italian sausage etc

Take your peel or cutting board outside, remove the lid and carefully slide the pizza onto the hot baking stone, using a spatula or tongs. Put the lid back on (vents open) and cook it for about 10 to 13 minutes, depending on how hot your grill is but start checking the bottom with a spatula after 10 minutes.
When it's done, carefully slide the pizza back onto the cutting board/peel using long tongs. Sprinkle more fresh basil on the top and let the pizza sit for about 5 minutes before you cut it to let the cheese set up a bit.