I’ve always left the grilling up to Matt. He would head outside and cook the meat, I would be in the kitchen making the side dishes, and all was well.
But one day several weeks ago, I felt like cooking something on the grill for lunch. It just sounded good, you know? But Matt wasn’t home. It was then that I realized that I had no earthly idea how to even turn on the grill. Duh. But it’s true.
Why, yes I do feel ridiculous admitting that to you. And hey, if you want, I could list off all kinds of things I have no clue about. Nah, how about we save that list for another day?
Well anyway, when he got home later that day, I asked my loving husband to teach me the fine arts of turning on a grill, which involved, as most of you probably already know, the push of a button and the turn of a knob. Wow, do I ever feel so much smarter than I did before.
With my newly found knowledge, I have become a little bit addicted to the grill. It is as if a whole new world has opened up to me. And this is why, after mastering burgers, hot dogs, bbq chicken legs, Italian chicken breasts, and several other varieties of meat, I decided to try making pizza on the grill. I had heard it was great, so why not?
The good news: Pizza on the grill tastes incredible and my whole family loves it. The bad news: Pizza on the grill takes more time and effort than a hot dog or even chicken on the grill. Shucks. But hey, it sure beats heating up the house by baking it in the oven. And well, it tastes so good that I think it is worth the effort.
How To Make Pizza on the Grill:
1. Make pizza crust – I used my favorite Whole Wheat Pizza Dough recipe. Roll it thin, and keep it small. Individual sized pizzas are best for the grill.
2. Freeze the unbaked pizza crusts on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. This will make your crusts much easier to work with on the grill.
3. Prepare all pizza toppings. It is important to have this done before you begin cooking your pizzas. Really, really important.
4. Get your grill hot and ready. (If you need my husband to come show you how to turn on your grill, he is very nice and I’m sure he would be happy to walk you through this step.)
5. Place crusts on the grill on low heat, as many as your grill will hold. Close the lid and allow the crusts to cook on one side for about three minutes.
6. Remove the crusts from the grill. Turn them cooked side up and fill with sauce and toppings of your choosing. Go easy on the sauce, unless you want soggy pizza.
7. Place the topped pizzas back on the grill, close the lid, and cook for another 3-5 minutes or until cheese is melted.
Not that I personally experienced any moments of absolute insanity my first time making these, but be aware that you may be forced to deal with a bit of craziness while feeling like everything needs to be done at once and everyone needs to get out of your way and not ask you any questions while you are trying to grill the crust, top the crust, grill the pizza, and not burn anything along the way. Just so you know. (It does get easier after you’ve done it once.)
And that is why it is very important that your pizza toppings are prepared and ready ahead of time. I am so not kidding. ;)
LOL – you’re so funny Laura!
That looks delicious! :)
You made me giggle this morning :) Love it!
Haha, that’s great that you finally learned to use the grill. I’m the griller in our family. My husband always says that he doesn’t care if the grill is supposed to be the man’s domain. If someone wants to cook him dinner on the grill while he relaxes, then go right ahead. I LOVE grilling and am excited that we finally got rid of our 8+ year old grill (it was given used to us 8 years ago, so I have no idea how old it actually was) and using some money that we recently received, I treated myself to a new grill. I cannot wait until it arrives so I can start using it and try out lots of new recipes. The old grill was in such bad shape, I never dared tried anything “fancy” as it either burnt the food or didn’t cook. I was constantly having to move the food around on it to try and cook the food evenly. I’m definitely going to put the grilled pizza on the list for one of the new things I want to try.
Love that you posted this today! DH and I are going to try grilled pizza for the first time tonight! Thank you for sharing. I was confussed about a few steps….all clear now!!
That sounds great. Think I could make it on the cast iron grill pan on top of the stove, using a cover to finish cooking it?
I make my own gluten-free pizza crust, which has the consistency of thick frosting, so I’ve found that spreading it on a well-greased pizza stone works great – no small pizzas required!!! You’re right about the sauce, though. Just a little or you have a big mess!!!
I love to grill pizza. Especially in the summer. Like you said who wants to heat up the house by running the oven.
Question. I’m a big lover of garlic. So you think I could put a little bit of garlic (fresh, salt, powder,etc) in the dough to give it a bit of a kick, with out compromising the dough??
Sounds yummy. I wouldn’t know how to turn the grill on either. :) We don’t have one, lol.
I have no idea how to turn the grill on either!! NO idea. I’ve taken the seminar and promptly forgotten, too. But those pizza’s looked good!! I will sign up for the next seminar from hubby. Or maybe I will make the crust and use my feminine wiles and have him do the grilling. It’s not air conditioned out there and it’s HOT here :)
Tonight I tried it. If it hadn’t been so frustrating and wild…it would have been commical. Hmmm…maybe the neighbors heard the noise and got a good laugh. I will have to ask them!
I totally agree with having to be ready with all the toppings! I am so glad I took your advice on that one…if I hadn’t, dinner would have been a TOTAL bust.
I didn’t realize how FAST the grill cooks the crust! I burned 4 of them right off the start! I managed to save 1/2 of one, and had another frozen one, so I was able to try again.
My family LOVED it! They were fighting over the last couple of pieces (there wasn’t as much pizza as I usually make, considering that I burned about 75% of what I had intended to make). The whole wheat crust recipe you provided was SO good and SO EASY to make!
I received huge accolades from the family despite the fact that most of their dinner was in the trash can! Now, THAT’s saying something!
Oh, and did you know…prepared pizza toppings make great salad mixings when the crusts they are intended for bite the dust?
:) Thanks so much…next time will be SO much better!
is this something that can be done while camping…not on a grill, but the grate on the campfire?? Or will it not work so much….it just sounds so yummy??
That should work! I would just use smoldering coals though so you don’t burn the bottom.
I finally learned to grill a few years ago after being stuck without dinner while waiting for my husband to get home…in his job, “end of shift” is just a suggestion. Lol! I have been grilling pizza (and everything else!) and we really like it! I make my crusts about 12-14″ and don’t freeze them- as long as I cook the first side enough, they are easy to flip with tongs. It definitely gets easier with practice!
How long do you freeze the crusts? Frozen totally solid or just cold and “firm”?
Just until cold and firm is fine. :)