Anyone who knows me will tell you my favorite food is pizza. No if's, and's or but's. I am a self-proclaimed connoisseur. And there is no pizza better than pizza from a wood-fired oven. So last night I decided to try a gluten-free pizza on my BBQ. And let me tell you, it turned out better than I could have imagined. (And if I didn't have a piece-of-junk grill that heats unevenly you wouldn't be looking at blackened crust on one side).
Before starting this dish, I knew I would have to do a few extra steps to make the gluten free dough tough enough to be put on the grill. If you have ever made GF pizza, you know that the dough is more of a batter that must be spread onto a pizza stone. More on this later! So, here I am adding the yeast-sugar-water mixture to the Better Batter, salt and oil.
This is where I started to get creative. While mixing the dough, I heated my oven to 450 degrees with my baking stone inside. When I was done mixing the dough, I took out the baking stone and greased it and sprinkled cornmeal on it. I then turned off the oven. I spread the dough onto the stone, making it nice and thin. I could have made this much dough into two pizzas by making it thinner. (The part of the pizza with the thinner crust tasted the best). I was hoping that the hot stone alone would set the dough enough to make it moveable, but it still needed to go into the hot (but off) oven for about 5-7 minutes. Not long enough to cook it, just to set it.
When the dough was done in the oven I used a spatula to loosen it, then flipped it onto a new tray. It was basically like regular pizza dough now and could be slipped onto the grill without worries of breaking apart. I basted it with basil-infused olive oil.
From here on out, I would suggest having a helper, because it goes quickly and you don't have time to waste looking for tools or toppings! (As I found out as we went). Here we are slipping the dough onto a clean, greased BBQ grill. The temp was about 400, but I turned the burners down on the side the pizza was on. In the meantime, make sure all toppings and sauces are ready nearby. For flipping, I had a flat baking sheet, but you should definitely have something larger like that...A spatula might cause the dough to break.
Here is the crust after about 8-10 minutes, but watch closely. Our grill burns hotter in the back, so we had to slip some foil under the section that was done quicker. So, we see the bubbles, I check underneath and it is perfect! I made my husband flip it for me because I was scared. But it held together perfectly and was starting to take on the texture of an amazing crust.
Here is the crust after an amazingly executed flip by my husband. As you can see, back burned front not so much. Rrrr. My old BBQ tried to sabotage my pizza, but didn't succeed I'm happy to say. But notice the grill lines and great color. The texture was perfect.
Right after that flip is where you have to work quickly. Get the oil or sauce basted on quickly and throw on those toppings so you can close the grill and let the heat melt the top as the bottom of the crust is crisping-up. It goes fast if your grill is hot. I had to use foil again to keep the back from burning.
Ok, now we are carnivores, so you probably won't see a lot of veggie or vegan pizzas in our house. We went all out with browned Italian sausage and pepperoni and fresh cut grape tomatoes. No sauce, just basil-infused olive oil. I also used fresh sliced mozzarella instead of the shredded kind. What a difference.
This pizza was amazing. My GF husband even went as far as to say it was "the best pizza" he's ever had. It was probably the Italian sausage and pepperoni talking, but I'll take the compliment. I thought it was excellent pizza and worth all of the work! It was actually kind of fun cooking outside. Let me just say that I would gladly pay money for this pizza in a restaurant...So you should definitely give it a try!
Gluten Free Pizza on the Grill!
2 Cups warm water
1 Pkg. yeast
1 T. Sugar
2 1/2 Cup
2 1/2 Cups Better Batter
1/2 t. Salt
2 T. Olive Oil
1-2 T. cornmeal for pan
**Preheat oven to 450
1. Proof yeast in sugar and water for 5 minutes. Make sure it is well dissolved.
2. Sift flour and salt, and add olive oil
3. Add yeast mixture to flour mix. and beat on high for 3 minutes. Dough should be like cake batter.
4. Grease and sprinkle cornmeal on a hot baking sheet. Turn off oven after it has reached temp.
5. Spread batter onto baking sheet in a thin layer. (You may need to make this into two crusts depending on how thin you want your crust).
6. Set pizza dough in the hot but off oven to let it set for 5-7 minutes.
**Start heating your outdoor grill to about 400.
7. Flip crust out onto a different tray to carry out to the grill. Brush it with olive oil.
8. Have all toppings ready to go right next to the grill.
9. Grease grill and turn down heat on the side where the pizza will go. Slide dough onto grill.
10. When dough is bubbly and you can see by peeking underneath that it is ready, then using a large, flat tray or spatula, flip the crust over.
11. Brush with olive oil or sauce and place all toppings on the pizza. Close the lid to the grill so the heat can melt the toppings.
12. When the bottom is done, remove the pizza and serve!
1 comment:
Unreal. I can't wait to to try this! Doing it this week. Amazing.
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