Pizza on the Grill: Great Idea for the Summertime in Laramie

Country Cooking:

If you don’t like a hot kitchen during the summer, why not cook everything outside?  Believe it or not, you can make pizza without even turning on your oven.  You can cook, bake, and fry everything you need on your BBQ grill. I recently received a BBQ grill from my father-in-law who upgraded to the Big Green Egg. I acquired an 11 year-old Weber that is a gas start charcoal grill; the best of both worlds if you ask me.

Grilling pizza may sound strange, but really makes the best pizza. My wife was skeptical too, and then she tried it and was impressed. The main thing is to be adventurous when cooking and do not be afraid to make some mistakes along the way. Making pizza is also a great way to use up whatever leftover veggies, meats, and cheeses you might have in the fridge.  You open your fridge and see what you have and put it on the pizza. Sautéed veggies, aged cheese, and leftover hamburger all work well when you place it on a pizza.

Step one: Make your favorite pizza dough, get ready made pizza dough from the grocery store, or buy pizza dough from Grand Avenue Pizza. Make sure you split the dough in half to make your pizza alittle smaller for easy flipping on the grill.  You can also make smaller individual pizzas.

Step two: Prepare all the toppings;  grade cheese, sauté any vegetables, and cook any meat on the grill before you bake the pizza dough.

Step three: It does not matter if you have a gas or charcoal grill- either work well. Turn the gas grill to low or medium and make sure all flare ups are over. If you have a charcoal grill, make sure the charcoal are spread out and there is an even heat below where the pizza dough will be.

Step four: Be ready with all ingredients and put the first pizza dough on the grill. You may have a tendency to check right away if the dough is burning but wait for at least 5-7 minutes before turning. After the top starts bubbling and light brown grill marks appear on the bottom of the pizza dough, turn it over with a large flipper. On the other side add the pizza sauce and arrange toppings quickly.  Then shut the lid and let the pizza cook for another 8-10 minutes.

Step five: Remove from grill, make the other pizzas with custom toppings, cut and enjoy!