Grilled Pizza Crust

The magical thing about having girls who adore each other is that sometimes they hit a groove and are very happy left to their own devices. On those days, I drop everything and run to a project because ZOMG TIME TO GET THINGS DONE!

Today was one of those days. Mila and Alexis played and played and played outside. They ran through the sprinkler. They jumped on the trampoline. They played on the swingset. They giggled and smiled and loved every moment of each other's company. I know that because I kept one eye on them as I spread a heck of a lot of mulch, pulled even more weeds, and leveled then rebuilt little patio around our fire pit.

FIVE HOURS LATER, I may never move again, but they had fun. I got SO much yard work done. I just didn't get any of the inside things done, like taking photos of the three recipes I have ready to post. Alas, I'm throwing the Grilled Pizza recipe up again because it's that time of year. If I'm yanking weeds, we need to be grilling pizza. It's the law.

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Grilled Pizza Crust
(adapted from Fine Cooking September 2004 issue)
(reposted from July 2012)

1 package quick rise active dry yeast
1 1/4 cups warm water
4 1/4 cups flour
2 teaspoons salt
1/4 cup olive olive

1. Stir the yeast into the water and allow it to sit for 15 minutes.

2. Combine the flour and salt in a large bowl. While mixing using low speed on a mixer with a dough hook, slowly add the yeast mixture and the olive oil alternately to the flour. Knead until well combined (using the mixer or on a floured surface by hand), until the dough becomes elastic. The dough should feel soft and be a little bit sticky. If it feels grainy or dry, add more warm water 1 tablespoon at a time.

3. Place the well-kneaded dough into a lightly oiled bowl and cover with a damp dish towel.

4. Allow the dough to rise until it is doubled in size, approximately one hour. The dough is done rising when you poke it and the dough holds the finger poking impression (fancy wording right there, don't you think?).

5. Once the dough is done rising, punch it down and divide it into 8 evenly-sized balls.

6. Roll out each ball using a rolling pin until each circle is approximately 1/4 inch thick (thicker if you prefer thick crust, thinner if you have excellent taste and like crispy crust). You can stack the crusts on a plate by placing a sheet of wax paper in between each one.

And, you have crust. You can do the dough in advance. For example, if you want to make it one day in advance, do all the combining and mixing and kneading, then wrap the dough up and put it in the fridge. It will slowly rise overnight and you can roll it out the next day. It also freezes well--it will rise as it defrosts.

Here are the cooking instructions:

1. Heat the grill to medium. Using a pastry brush, brush olive oil on one side of a crust, and place the crust oil-side down on the grill.

Close the grill lid and wait a few minutes. The first side of the crust is done when it is lightly browned (we like it to get dark brown stripes, but don't like any black burnt crust up in the joint).

2. Brush oil on the uncooked side of the crust and then flip it so that the cooked side is facing up on a plate. Give it to whoever so they can select their sauce and toppings. We like to start with standard red pizza sauce and mozzarella cheese, but we do tend to get fancy with the artichoke hearts, roasted red peppers, spinach, Feta cheese, sundried tomatoes, red onions, and whatever else floats our boats that day.

This kid keeps it boring, though.

She goes with plain old red sauce and about 1/3 as much cheese as I would use. She's so weird with her cheese aversion.

3. Once the toppings are on the pizza, place it back on the grill so that you can cook the other side of the crust.

4. It's done when the cheese is the right level of melty. If you are worried that the crust might end up TOO cooked, feel free to move the pizza to the top shelf of the grill while you let the cheese melt.

5. If you are Alexis, you'll notice that there are a bunch of grape tomatoes ready to pick and you'll throw them on top of your pizza as well.