Pizza night!
For my last meal I would choose pizza.
Pizza and some kind of salad served with a good red wine to wash it all down - I’d be happy. It’s a perfect combination.
One of the perks of being out in the ‘burbs is the easy access to a grill and one of my great joys is making pizzas on it. It’s even more fun when Ben and Alexa take over the grilling and pizza making!
I decided to compare an old tried and true pizza dough recipe with the dough I buy in the grocery store. Honestly, there was no discernible difference which should make any of you who feel like everything should be homemade much more confident in using their dough. Conversely, this dough is really too easy to not make so if you have some extra time, it’s worth it. The rest of the “technique” if you want to call it that, is having all your ingredients at the ready so you don’t have to scramble at all for them. The pizza’s cook incredibly fast on the grill so I like to do my mise-en-place before I start heating up the grill. You can make any combination you like. Ben came up with a great idea that added so much flavor to the pizza I don’t think I’ll ever make it again without it. He threw garlic and shallots into the Zyloss Easy Pull Food Processor and then spread that mixture over the crust on both sides. The garlic and shallots charred and added so much flavor we were all wondering why we’d never done it before. Amazing.
There is not end to combinations of what types of pies to make. Here’s what we made last week as well as some suggestions for the future.
1 - Tomato Sauce, Mozzarella, Arugula, Friseee and Prosciutto
2 - Zucchini, Basil, Ricotta (The taste test winner!)
3 - Mozzarella, Tomato sauce, sautéed Mushrooms and Pepperoni (Classic. Everyone loves..)
Other combinations I’ve made in the past:
BBQ Chicken, Red Onion and Mozzarella Cheese
Margarita
Mozzarella, Tomato Sauce and Eggplant
White pizza (just ricotta and mozzarella)
Standard - Mozzarella, Tomato Sauce
Clam, Garlic and crushed Red Pepper
Rigatoni
Sausage
Peppers and Onions
Honestly, the list is endless - it’s really up to you! Here are some tips for helping you get your combinations together and your ingredients set to make the perfect pie.
Tried and True Pizza Dough
Adapted from Williams Sonoma
Ingredients
2 Teaspoons Active dry Yeast
1 Teaspoon Sugar
1 cup warm Water
2 cups Bread flour
1 1/2 teaspoon Kosher Salt
1 Tbs. olive oil
Directions
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the dough hook, stir together the yeast, sugar and warm water. Let stand for 5 minutes.
Add the flour and salt and start the mixer on low speed. Slowly drizzle in the olive oil and knead the dough for 5 minutes. The dough should come together into a large ball and pull away from the sides of the bowl; it should be moist but not sticky.
Stop the mixer, remove the dough hook and cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Let stand at room temperature until the dough is doubled in size, about 1 hour.
Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface. Divide the dough into 4 equal pieces and roll each into a ball. Set on a flour-dusted baking sheet and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Let stand at room temperature for 30 to 45 minutes. The original recipe tells you to refrigerate the dough balls (without letting them stand at room temperature) for up to 6 hours; then remove the dough from the refrigerator and let stand at room temperature for 30 to 45 minutes before using. We just left them sit out for about 4 hours. I have found that the dough rolls out much better without being refrigerated.
When you are ready to make your pizza, take each ball of dough and roll it out on a floured work surface. Try to get the dough as thin as possible without making any holes.
When you are ready to grill…Preheat the grill, make sure to clean it with a brush / spray with Pam.
Have a bowl of Olive Oil with a pastry brush ready as well as (if you’re trying this) a bowl of Shallots and Garlic that have been either finely diced or thrown in the chopper.
Brush one side of the pizza dough with the olive oil, then liberally sprinkle the garlic / shallot combo.
Make sure your grill is hot / ready. Have tongs, large spatula, a board or platter to move the pizza to and all your toppings at the ready.
Toss the dough down on the grill - oil, shallot & garlic side first.
Close the cover for a brief moment. When you open it, the dough should have started puffing up a bit. Check the bottom. You are looking for a bottom that is just starting to char.
Brush that next side with oil and sprinkle the shallot / garlic mixture on it. Flip it and quickly put your toppings on. Close the grill cover. Check every minute or so. Again, this cooks incredibly quickly so be ready!
Toppings - Some suggested ways to prepare them - again have a bowl ready for each topping.
Mozzarella - I used fresh mozzarella, which sometimes is too watery (although the one I used was perfect). Shred it or slice it so it is easy to put on your pie.
Tomato Sauce - we used Rao’s but feel free to use homemade or other jarred sauce that you like.
Then there are the usual condiments - Crushed Red Pepper, Garlic Powder, Onion Powder, Salt & Pepper and Parmigiano to have on the table.
Ben decreed that we would make each option individually so we could eat calmly instead of the mad rush we normally do. In the past we’ve served them all at the same time and it’s become an eating frenzy. It was nice being able to savor each pie and know that we still had different ones coming and that we could always have another slice of our favorite.
Enjoy!
Pie 1: Arugula, Frisee, and Prosciutto
Arugula, Frisee - Just have washed and dried and ready in a bowl
Prosciutto - make sure it is sliced super thin
Balsamic vinegar - I like using either Massimo Battura’s Villa Manodori’s Balsamic Vinegar or an aged Balsamic vinegar from Modena on top.
To make the pie:
Grill the first side; brush the other side with oil, shallots and garlic.
Spread the tomato sauce and cheese on it. Close the grill cover until the mozzarella has melted.
Take the pie off, toss the prepared greens on top, and layer it with prosciutto and drizzle with the balsamic.
Pie 2: Zucchini, Basil, and Ricotta
This pie combination was also part of William’s Sonoma’s recipe but I changed it completely so here’s my version….
Prepare the Zucchini before. I’ve been perfecting this method of preparing zucchini. I run the zucchini through my food processor on the slicing blade at one of the thinnest settings. Then I lay the slices out on a baking sheet that I’ve put parchment paper down on / brush with olive oil, kosher salt & pepper and roast at 400 until it is golden brown. Those are the chips that I used on top of the pie.
Using the oil / shallot / garlic method get your pie ready. We used a small ice cream scooper to put the ricotta on the pie.
When you flip it, arrange the chips all over the pie. Dot the pie with ricotta cheese and place the basil leaves all over (see picture). Close cover so ricotta melts a little and starts to ooze on the pie.
Pie 3: Mozzarella, Tomato sauce, sautéed Mushrooms and Pepperoni
Prepare crust. For this pie we used sliced mozzarella.
When you flip it, put the sauce on, lay the slices of mozzarella down, scatter the sautéed mushrooms all over and layer the pepperoni all over.
To make the mushrooms
Peel and clean the mushrooms, slice them up and then sauté then with olive oil, shallots and or garlic. I like getting them to a slightly drier, charred state. I also tried this new method where I sautéed the mushrooms first and then added the shallots and cooked the whole mix thoroughly. I think it allowed the shallot flavor to come through more brightly. Salt and Pepper to taste.
The larger doughs are mine but they all tasted very similar
Zucchini, Basil & Ricotta
Arugula, Frisee, Prosciutto, Mozzarella & Tomato Sauce
Mozzarella, Tomato Sauce, Mushrooms, Pepperoni & Basil
