Grilled Pizza Nights!

Lo’s Pepperoni and Sausage Pizza

Lo’s favorite food is pizza, specifically Adriatico’s, but even when I was eating gluten, it always gave me more heartburn/stomach pain than other pizzas, so we didn’t get it very often.  A few years ago, we started grilling pizzas and have never turned back.  Rain or shine, balls hot or winter, when we make pizza, it’s almost always on the grill.  It always shocks me when people don’t realize you can put pizza dough on the grill.

As for the dough – we used to often use Trader Joe’s Dough, either whole wheat or garlic/herb (sold in a ball shape near the hummus in the refrig section for about $1.19), but at some point we stopped getting it very often even before I was GF.  Now we usually use Pillsbury Pizza Dough Roll (with the biscuits in refrig section) for him, and either Chebe GF Pizza Dough Mix ($19.86 for 8 mixes w/subscribe and save) or Bob’s Red Mill Pizza Dough Mix ($10.95 for 4 mixes w/subscribe and save) for me.  Both of those gluten-free crusts bake up nicely and have a chewy crust instead of the crispy, crackery standard GF crust.  Note: the Chebe requires a cup of shredded cheese IN the mix, so just know that you’ll need/be eating more cheese than just for the topping.  We don’t need to make two separate pizzas – he likes the GF crust, but we usually want to use different toppings, so it’s easier to keep a couple of Pillsbury doughs in the fridge for him – he likes the taste and you just have to roll them out and they’re ready.  Plus then we have pizza leftovers, which are ALWAYS good.

GF Chicken Huli Huli Pizza with carrots, spinach, and pineapple

His pizza usually consists of Trader Joe’s Pizza Sauce, pepperoni (actually secret pepperoni because I have to hide it from him and then try to find it when we want to make pizza), sometimes crumbled sausage, and mozzarella, with some Trader Joe’s Shaved Parmesan, Romano & Asiago Cheese Blend – oh, and a heavy dose of red pepper flakes.  My pizza varies greatly – the last three have been: Butternut squash sauce (I get at Costco), kale, balsamic onions, sundried tomatoes, goat cheese, and mozzarella; Lemon and Artichoke Sauce, sundried tomatoes, goat cheese, and mozzarella; and the last one was Homemade Huli Huli Sauce (leftover), shredded chicken, roasted garlic, shredded carrots, spinach, mozzarella, and the Trader Joe’s parm blend.  I threw a few sausage crumbles on top because he had extra.  I built the toppings around adding pineapple to the pizza, but completely forgot, so I ate it with pineapple on top.  

GF Butternut Squash Sauce with Kale, Balsamic Onions, Sun-dried Tomatoes, Goat Cheese, and Mozzarella

As far as grilling the pizza – it’s simple.  Just prepare the dough per instructions and roll it out as usual. You want to make sure to roll out the pizzas small enough so they fit on the grill (we don’t worry about the shape).  It’s easiest to use a pizza peel (here’s one for $15) or a rimless cookie sheet) to roll out the dough, and use cornmeal to keep it from sticking (flour works, but I can’t use it).  If you don’t have a rimless cookie sheet, flip a rimmed cookie sheet upside down and use the bottom.  It’s a little easier to work with smaller sized pizzas, so you may want to only make them 6-7 inches to start until you get used to it.  Oil the grill grates and heat to medium (we have a gas grill). When the grill is hot, carefully slide the pizza from the peel or cookie sheet onto the grill.  It should only take 3-5 minutes to bake the first side of the crust – just check it every now and then by lifting the edge with a metal spatula, until it’s golden brown (be aware of hot spots on your grill so the dough isn’t blackened).  Using a big spatula, flip the pizza onto the peel or cookie sheet with the grilled side UP.  Turn the heat to low and take the pizza inside and add your toppings to the already grilled side.  Slide the pizza back onto the grill to cook the bottom side and close the lid.  By turning the heat to low, you’ll be able to leave it on long enough so that the cheese melts and the toppings are heated.  Once again just lift the edges to check for doneness (a lot of grills are hotter in the middle, so you may want to pull it off before the edges are completely browned).  When done, slide back on the peel or cookie sheet and allow to cool slightly before cutting!  Unless you have a big grill or are making 2 small pizzas, you will probably have to make one at a time.   

GF NYE Pizza with Lemon and Artichoke Sauce, Goat Cheese, and Sun-dried Tomatoes

You’ll never go back.  Full disclosure – Lo always makes the pizzas, I just add my topping.  I think we made the first couple together while we were figuring out how to grill pizza, but since then, he’s the pizza master.