We've always wanted to try grilled pizza. Our latest Cook the Book Club [1] pick, Mario Batali's new Italian Grill [2] gave us the needed inspiration. You can also try other or more toppings, such as black kalamata olives, red onion, or artichokes. So fun and so delicious. We made them with the entire family.
Makes 3 8-10-inch pizzas
Serves 6
3 balls of homemade pizza dough [3]
3 c. quick pizza sauce [4]
1 lb. chicken or pork Italian sausage
2 oz. smoke-dried tomatoes [5], or sun-dried
2 balls fresh mozzarella
Parmesean cheese, shaved
1 lb. fresh arugula
olive oil
lemon
sea salt or kosher salt
Prepare Toppings:
Make quick pizza sauce. Remove sausage from casing, place in saute pan with a little olive oil and cook until brown. Tip Let the meat brown before you stir it around otherwise, the meat sticks to the pan. When done, crumble, place in a bowl and let cool. Re-hydrate smoke-dried tomatoes by letting them steep in hot water for about 20 minutes then chop into small slivers. Grate fresh mozzarella.
Grill Pizza
Turn on grill to hot and remove any upper racks. You will need lots of space. Roll out homemade pizza dough until flat using a floured rolling pin. Do not pinch the edges. It should be like flat bread. Rub with olive oil. Place dough on a large plastic chopping board, lift and place directly on the grill. Let cook until the dough starts to bubble and bottom browns about 1-2 minutes. Quickly turn down the heat to medium and turn using tongs to let the other side cook for about a minute until crisp. Remove from grill using tongs and turn down heat to low. Place dough on large chopping board and scatter toppings, starting with sauce (don't add too much or the dough will become soggy) then grated mozzarella cheese, followed by sausage, slivers of smoke-dried tomatoes, and shaved Parmesean. Return to the grill, close the lid and let cook for another couple of minutes over low heat until cheese is melted and toppings are warm. Tip: It can be difficult to slide the topped pizza on and off the grill. Solicit someone to help.
To serve, place pizzas on wooden chopping boards, cut into large pieces and pile high with fresh arugula tossed in a little lemon, olive oil and salt. Drizzle with a little olio piccante [6].
NOTE: The pizzas can be kept warm in a low oven while cooking.