Grilled Pizza

One of my favorite summer time treats is to create various types and styles of pizza on the grill.  I've used used both fresh dough and premade crusts, both are good and both are very different.  It's really more a personal preference than anything.

You can get fresh dough at most pizza shops and grocery stores now, sometimes you have to ask.  When using fresh dough, make sure you roll it out thinner as it will bubble and cook up, shrinking quite a bit also.  I generally brush both sides with olive oil or vegetable oil and some spices.  Cook one side, flip and then add toppings.  Cover the grill to assure heating the topping well and cook on a very low heat/flame, so as not to burn.

Boboli shells are great to use also, as are various breads.  I often will use Italian or French breads or even some focaccia breads. A pre-baked crust works great, especially for fresh veggie pizzas as they simply need nothing more than heating up and browning.  Again, with pre-baked crusts, you cook one side, turn over and then add the toppings.  With breads, brown/grill the side that you will be putting your toppings on first, then flip it to the crusty side of the bread to finish grilling.  Always grill on LOW heat to avoid burning.  I also tend to always spray the grill with a cooking spray.  It keeps it from sticking.

 Here are some variations I've tried or seen created.  Thought I'd share!

The standard "cheese and pep" is always a good choice, especially for anyone having smaller children.  I almost always will make at least one of the cheese and pepperoni pizza if I have company over because I love to create "different" styles of pizza and not everybody is as adventurous as me!

One of my favorite grilled pizzas is the broccoli and cheese.  While I generally use a cheddar with the broccoli pizza, I have also created them with feta cheese, provolone or mozzarella.  I blanche the broccoli sometimes too, to get a slightly less crispy and a little more fully cooked broccoli on top.  I also tend to chop my broccoli up very, very small, using only the florets when possible.

This fresh dough version of a veggie pizza is always great for a summer treat! I love picking up various veggies at the farmers market, tomatoes, peppers, onions, etc. and just tossing them on a fresh dough crust that is pounded out thin.  It will bubble up on the first side grilled, you flip and then add your toppings.  I always brush my dough, both fresh or pre-baked crusts, with some olive oil and a little garlic and onion salt. The type of veggies you use are limitless and can be changed according to what you're in the mood for.

I sometimes will use a half loaf of Italian or french bread as my crust also.  Simply coat with some olive oil, toast the top side first, then flip and toast the bottom.  Place your veggies on top.  This particular one is a ranch dressing base with onions, green peppers, tomatoes, jalapeno peppers and spinach.  My kids LOVE the ranch dressing as a base, in place of a "same ol' same ol'" tomato sauce.

The great part of a grilled pizza is that you can easily accommodate even the toughest of "vegans"!  It's one dish I know my vegetarian friends will enjoy with me, as long as I remember when and when not to use an animal milk cheese! Here's a grilled pizza that a lot of my vegetarian friends seem to make.  It's not for me, but they swear it's delish!  This has just oil and spices as the base.  You then add fresh sliced figs and arugula spinach.  Drizzle some flavored olive oil on top and grill.  The dish is strict vegan, not even using animal milk cheese, but you can make it "vegetarian" with a cheese topping or even tofu.

The Philly Steak grilled pizza is one of my all time faves.  This particular one I added some bacon on it, yellow peppers, onions, shredded steak and mozzarella.  My "original" Philly one sticks with the original Philly Steak recipe using only shredded steak, onions and peppers and some cheddar cheese.  With these types of pizza's a red sauce would simply be too much so I tend to use a simple base of oil and spices on the crust. Placing the grill cover on helps to melt the cheeses.

This is one my youngest daughter loves.  She was actually my inspiration for it's creation as she loves a simple mixture of feta cheese, olive oil and tomatoes with spices in a bowl.  She had it at a friends house once and came home to ask if I've ever made or liked "stuffed tomatoes".   Of course I had no clue this was what she meant and thought she meant a truly stuffed tomato that was grilled with cheese on top.  Her creation inspired this type of pizza for us.  This one is a fresh dough pizza with slices of tomatoes, feta cheese, olive oil and basil.  The base is a store bought pesto sauce.  I prefer the tomatoes chopped up small (diced) but everyone seemed to love it either way. It's one of the first times I've ever created a pizza with a pesto base also.  You either love or hate pesto, so it's not for everyone but you can easily use an oil and herb base though.

This is a "Southwestern Style" pizza.  I used a boboli crust as they had them buy one get one free and I had a coupon so the end cost was something like $1 for 2 packages of 2 each! How can you beat that deal?  I had some left over taco meat, placed that along with some veggies, frozen corn kernels and taco sauce to create a slightly Mexican fiesta style. Everyone seemed to enjoy it for a change. 

This next pizza is not one I've made, at least not with lamb as the meat.  It's one I found on the net and thought I'd share as there are quite a few people who do cook up lamb roasts and have leftovers.  Using the roast leftovers is a great way to create this version of a grilled pizza.  Here, you simply toss on the leftover lamb, add onions and a mixture of cheddar and mozzarella cheese to create a very unique pizza. I've done this using leftover beef roasts and even leftover pork roasts (added bbq sauce for a pulled pork pizza) but never with lamb as we don't eat that here.  It looks delish though and if it weren't for the lamb.... I'm sure I'd try it!

Who doesn't love sloppy joes?  Well, leftover sloppy joes are a great base for a pizza.  Add some feta cheese or cheddar cheese and that's all you really need to create a quick and easy grilled pizza.  The one pictured here is not a grilled one but you can do the same exact thing on the grill.  I make this one often, sometimes making sloppy joes just for the pizza!

Feta cheese is one of my favorite cheese for grilled pizza.  I'm not sure if it's the combination of the slight heat and the ability of the cheese to melt just a little or what but any grilled pizza is ok with me when it has feta!  This particular one was really a menagerie of ingredients that I had around the fridge.  I used some browned ground beef, cooked with onions, and added some fresh herbs and feta.  End results were delightful!