Grilled Pizza for a Cool Spring Evening

The rain has passed for now and the weather reached a beautiful 65 degrees today with a sunny afternoon creeping in through the dissipating clouds. With evening temperatures just warm enough to get us thinking about the grill, we decided to go for it and fire up the big green Webster. It didn't quite feel like a kabobs kind of night. Despite being tempted we decided to save that for a summer evening still to come. Instead, we decided upon a heartier meal-- pizza.

We first had grilled pizza at a friend's house last spring and it was delicious. We had it again last summer, over a wood fire during a camping trip with my parents at Ontario's Pancake Bay Provincial Park-- an amazing spot along the Lake Superior coast. And once in the fall on our own grill. Now that winter has passed, this delicious meal has made it's way back onto the menu.

Whenever I make pizza, I make my own dough, so this was no exception. It is a simple recipe with only four ingredients-- flour, water, yeast, and salt. (I would give you the exact recipe, though I feel as though it is someone sacred considering that it is the same recipe my mother uses to make her baguettes at her bakery.) While the dough is rising, Andrew fired up the grill in order to be sure we had nice hot coals just in time for baking-- or I guess in this case grilling.

Then it was time to make the sauce. A bit of this and a bit of that in terms of spices, but one thing that I have found that makes my sauce extra special is extra garlic and a few extra glugs of red wine. While the sauce was simmering, I sliced some fresh mozzarella, tomatoes, and green onions. Meanwhile, I fried a few pieces of bacon. Once all of my ingredients were ready and the grill was hot it was time to shape the dough.

I decided to make two pizzas so I cut the dough in half and shaped it on a floured counter top. I placed the dough on the grill for about 5 minutes-- just long enough to get a little crispy and brown. Next, I flipped the partially baked dough upside down onto a floured baking sheet, topped the dough with my sauce and toppings, and popped the pizza back onto the grill for another 5 to 7 minutes. An in a matter of minutes we had two delicious pizzas-- one tomato, fresh mozzarella, and pesto. The other spinach, bacon, and green onions. The pizza was delicious and was the perfect meal to warm us up just as a cool chill began to settle on the night.