A Summer Staple: Wood Fired Pizza On The Grill
one of my favorite weekend traditions is pizza night. its such an easy idea for a fun dinner whenever anyone comes into town. and I love making mini pizzas so everyone can make their own! the only problem is that in the summer, and being that my house is over 100 years old, it ends up being 100000 degrees inside if I DARE to put the oven on. this definitely put a stint on pizza nights in the summer.
I found a wood fired grill pan on amazon so I had to order it immediately. It comes with the 12” stone (which ends up being about a large personal size pie) and a wooden pizza paddle that you can use to cut the pizza dough and transfer the pie to and from the stone.
Amazon - Pizza Paddle and Cooking Stone
this is the one I bought from amazon and it’s only $25. while I use it mostly on the grill, you can also use it in the oven or I’ve even seen people use it on the stove.
I usually will heat the grill up on high and let the stone heat up for about 20-30 minutes before turning the heat down and putting my pizza on top.
let’s talk dough. store bought dough is obviously the easiest way to go if you don’t want to pend a lot of time prepping. pre-made pizza dough already shaped is a great time-saver option. there are so many ones in the fridge or frozen section in your local grocery store. for some gluten-free options, Simple Mills makes a great almond flour crust, Banza has a chickpea crust, and there are a bunch of cauliflower crust options you can try. if you want to roll out your own dough but don’t want to make it from scratch, Trader Joe’s makes a great ready-to-go pizza dough. lastly, maybe you do want to make your own! I think it’s part of the experience! my go-to pizza dough recipe is 2-ingredient pizza dough using nonfat plain greek yogurt and self rising dough. use 1 3/4 cups of self rising flour and mix with 1 cup of greek yogurt. start to knead in the bowl and then transfer to a floured surface to continue kneading and form into your pizza crusts.
now for the best part, let’s talk about topping and styles! I’ve comprised my 3 favorite below, but pizza making is totally up to you! it’s the most customizable dish there is.
margarita pizza
ingredients:
tomato sauce
sliced fresh mozzarella
sliced tomato
fresh basil leaves (after its cooked)
zucchini, prosciutto & arugula pizza
ingredients:
tomato sauce
fresh mozzarella slices
ricotta
zucchini ribbons
prosciutto
arugula (after its cooked)
hot sausage & pickled peppers
ingredients
tomato sauce
shredded mozzarella
parmesan
hot italian sausage
nonnie’s pickled peppers