Grilled pizza - it seems like each summer, every food magazine I read has a story or recipe for grilled pizza. I'm not sure why, but until now, I was too chicken to try. What if the dough fell through the grates? If I used a pizza stone, what if I messed up picking it up and broke it? Now that Luke and I have our fancy new house with our fancy new backyard and fancy new charcoal grill, I ran out of excuses - and I'm SO glad I did. This was not only simple, but infinitely better than any of the oven-baked pizzas I've done over the years.
Grilled pizza
1 bell pepper
1/2 red onion, sliced in thick rings
1 pound whole wheat pizza dough (got mine from the Whole Foods Market pizza guys)
2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for coating pan
2 tablespoons fig jam
1 large, ripe tomato, cut into slices
1 ball fresh mozzarella, chopped
3 ounces pancetta
8 leaves fresh basil, chopped
Salt and pepper
Heat charcoals. Meanwhile, section bell pepper into quarters and cut red onion into rings. Once grill is hot, grill vegetables until beginning to blacken, about 4-5 minutes.Remove from the grill and cut both into smaller bite-sized pieces.
divide pizza dough into 2 balls. Oil a large, rimless baking sheet well, then press out dough as thin as possible (about 1/2 inch). Place dough directly on the grill grates and close the lid, let cook about 2 minutes or until bottom is starting to get good grill markets. Flip over using a large spatula or the baking sheet. Spread olive oil on one crust and fig jam on the other. Sprinkle mozzarella evenly over both crusts, then top with sliced tomato, bell pepper and onion.Close grill and let cook another 2-3 minutes, until bottom crust is browned and cheese is melting.
Quickly crisp pancetta in a skillet and chop, then sprinkle over pizza with basil. Season lightly with salt and pepper, then enjoy!
