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y Kasey wilson and Anthony Gismondi<br />
Pizza grilled on the barbecue is<br />
delicious and makes summer<br />
weekend get-togethers with<br />
friends easy when it’s too hot to turn on<br />
the oven. It’s also a fun weeknight dinner<br />
with the family or a treat to serve as an<br />
appetizer before you put something else<br />
on the barbecue. Grilled pizza is also as<br />
close as you can get to pies prepared in a<br />
wood-burning brick oven. The intense<br />
heat of a barbecue produces a crisp,<br />
lightly smoked crust.<br />
If you have the time, it’s satisfying<br />
to make basic pizza dough from scratch<br />
(at a fraction of the cost) but it’s also<br />
possible to buy high quality dough in<br />
supermarkets. It’s usually sold refrigerated<br />
in a plastic bag. If frozen, let it thaw in<br />
the refrigerator before using.<br />
If you’re planning a backyard<br />
barbecue, there are two tips that work to<br />
serve pizza to a crowd. One is to change<br />
the shape and form the dough into long<br />
rectangles like the Roman-style pizzas<br />
that are served throughout Italy. This<br />
ensures the centres will crisp up better.<br />
64<br />
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GriLLED<br />
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piZZAS<br />
The other is to grill the pizzas several<br />
hours ahead and then reheat them at the<br />
last minute in the barbecue.<br />
“The real trick to barbecuing pizza<br />
is, not surprisingly, the grilling itself,”<br />
says Tony Rosenfeld, pizza aficionado<br />
and cookbook author. “Once you start<br />
a baked pie cooking, the task is all but<br />
complete, but with a grilled pizza, that’s<br />
when your real work commences. I sort<br />
my technique into three parts: sear, top<br />
and cook (covered). The initial sear of<br />
the bare dough ensures that both sides<br />
of the crust get fine grill marks. You<br />
can’t just throw a topped pizza onto the<br />
grill; the top would never cook through<br />
before the bottom started to burn. So<br />
you sear one side over a hot fire – a gas<br />
grill set to high. Once the dough starts<br />
to bubble and puff and get good grill<br />
marks, it’s time to flip and top. I’m as<br />
guilty as the next guy of wanting to load<br />
for recipe, please see page 123<br />
most everything I can find on a pizza,<br />
but with grilled pies that is problematic.<br />
The cheese won’t melt, the dough will<br />
get soggy and the glut of flavourings will<br />
weigh down the pizza. Instead, restraint<br />
is the way to go. The grill’s convection<br />
heat is not as uniform as that of an oven,<br />
so add only that which can warm through<br />
or properly melt.”<br />
It’s also important to keep toppings<br />
simple and flavourful with strong cheeses<br />
and lots of herbs or spices. Make sure all<br />
your toppings are set out in bowls and<br />
GriLLED PiZZA iS ALSo AS CLoSE AS you CAn GET To PiES<br />
PrEPArED in A WooD-burninG briCK oVEn.<br />
platters, plus olive oil, salt and pepper before<br />
you put the pizza dough on the grill.<br />
When it comes to barbecuing,<br />
most people don’t think about grilling<br />
vegetables to top a pizza. Yet, they are<br />
delicious because their natural sugars<br />
caramelize and the smoke adds extra<br />
flavour. They are easy to prepare and<br />
can be made in advance. The vegetables
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