David Ross

Hmm. I'm not yet enough of a grilled pizza expert to say from experience if this would work. But I do a version of this, I'll call it the "two-step cheese process," when I make pizza in the oven. I'll par-bake the crust, then add a thin scattering of cheese and turn the pizza back in the oven to get the cheese melting. Then out of the oven, sauce, toppings, more cheese. Back in the oven to get things baking and the cheese starting to melt. Then a final blast under the broiler to get the top bubbling and caramelized. I don't do this trick with the cheese as a standard-just sometimes. It gives you another layer of cheese flavor. You could do it on the grill, but it would probably take some finesse as our photos and discussions above demonstrate. In other words, you'll probably have to par-bake your crust on the grill. Slip it off, add the cheese, then maybe back on the grill again with your toppings. Since the discussions have shown that a grilled pizza doesn't typically have a lot of sauce or toppings, I'm not so sure the idea of putting cheese down first, then a layer of sauce, would make any difference in the taste of a grilled pizza. I see a grilled pizza as more of a blotch of sauce here, some cheese over there, a few olives, some thinly sliced sausage scattered around--all basically cooking and melting at the same time. Anyone else have experience with this method of "cheese under the sauce" as it applies to a grilled pizza?

What a wonderful report along with quite delicious photos. The above dish sounds like it involved some strong competing flavors, namely bottarga, fennel, tarragon and saffron. I'm curious how you felt those flavors both balanced and contrasted one another? And--what did you think of the sweet flavor of the currants in the dish? I'd love to answer the question myself by taking a trek East to dine at Per Se in New York, but that is out of the question. I'll live my Per Se experience through your excellent report.

I'm just getting caught up on all the delicious dishes displayed here--and your Fried Green Tomato BLT really, really caught my eye. How delicious. I can see myself eating that for breakfast, lunch AND dinner! Tell us about the coating for the tomatoes and how you go about frying them. I haven't ever worked with frying green tomatoes, but I think I'll start this summer.

There actually is a producing orchard run by the University of Nevada in North Vegas run by a great guy named Bob Morris. It is primarily for research, therefore not open to the public, staffed mostly by volunteers from the Master Gardener program. I worked up there last summer and quite a few restaurants in Las Vegas were purchasing the variety of products that are grown up there. In fact the first Slow Food dinner that was out here featured quite a few Nevada products (beef, green almonds, peaches, etc.) Being both a chef and a master gardener it was a really dreamy, albeit surreal, experience to work up there. Off the top of my head the orchard produces several varieties of peaches, apricots, plums, pluots, grapes, apples, figs, pomegranates, almonds, table grapes, wine grapes, melons, onions, asparagus, blackberries, tomatoes, garlic and of course nopal cactus. I know that a few restaurants, both local and in some of the resorts, even Whole Foods on W. Charleston, were getting product from the orchard last year. Things can indeed grow in the desert, it just takes a different toolbox, a lot of patience, and a bit more trial and error than the average garden for things to thrive. ← Wow, a Master Gardener and a Chef-I'm envious. Thanks for relating your story. This is exactly the type of movement that we discussed at "Uncork'd" and one that needs to continue. It's going to be a matter of the Chefs of Las Vegas, the locals and the media of giving the movement the support it needs. We probably all agree that the sheer amount of food products served every day in Las Vegas is far greater than any local agricultural movement will ever be able to supply. But isn't that true of nearly any large city in America? In any case, the "Farm to Table" movement makes sense for so many reasons given the limitations of Las Vegas.

I used about 1 1/2 pounds of ground lamb for the merguez. The other ingredients were: 2 tsp. fennel seeds 4 cloves minced garlic 3 tbsp. of the harissa 2 tsp. ground cumin 2 tsp. ground coriander 1/2 tsp. cinnamon 2 tbsp. olive oil Of course, change the ratio or types of spices to fit your tastes. I tend to draw back on the amount of cinnamon called for in most merguez recipes. I like the idea of a naan style bread for the lobster grilled pizza. I'll add that to my growing list of grilled pizza possibilities. Thanks for the tip.

Has anyone ever done a grilled pizza with lobster? Or maybe the question should be--have you done an oven-roasted pizza with lobster and if so, do you think it would work on the grill? I've been fussing for weeks over how to do a large lobster tail I have in the freezer. My recipe ideas have ranged from butter-poaching the lobster and serving it with asparagus tempura and a hollandaise mousse--to lobster and chinese sausage with sticky rice wrapped in banana leaves and roasted on the grill. Would roasted lobster and a coconut red-curry sauce work on a grilled pizza?

The "Farm to Table" discussion that was presented at the panel during "Vegas Uncork'd" didn't end when the events concluded back in May. John Curtas, the well-known Las Vegas Food Writer, Critic, Television and Raidio Host, (and a man associated with other food and non-food related activities in Las Vegas), was one of the first to break the news that Mario Batali has jumped into the "Farm to Table" discussion that we reported on during our Klatsch. Batali, apparently as adept at marketing as he is at cooking, is currently leading the charge to establish a farmer's market in Las Vegas, on the Strip in a hotel no less. Chef Batali is also charging ahead in leading the "green" movement at his Las Vegas restaurants. You can read about "Chef Mario Bets the Farm" at Mr. Curtas's website, eatinglv.com here. For the forseeable future, nearly all of the food products served in Las Vegas will continue to be shipped in from somewhere else. But one hopes that the "Farm to Table" discussion that began at "Vegas Uncork'd" and now continues with Chef Batali's efforts will be the stimulus for a new movement. eatinglv.com quotes Batali as predicting that Las Vegas could go to an all-sustainable cuisine in five years. While it's improbable that any sports book in town would give Batali odds on such an unlikely proposition, maybe someday, maybe in five years, a small orchard of Meyer lemons and a patch of Charentais melons will sprout in the desert and find their way onto a buffet table somewhere on Las Vegas Boulevard.

It's funny how sometimes things come full circle. Well, I'm hoping the circle is almost complete, it's just going to take a bit more time and perseverance on my part for that to happen. So I'm given the pink slip when KXLY cancels "Sunday Morning Northwest." After some initial interest on the part of KHQ, I'm sent the "Dear John" e-mail letting me know that they aren't interested in hosting cooking segments on the morning program. I cower back to KXLY, swallowing my pride and using the little amount of local star power I have, to basically beg them to take me back. I'll tape any time of day, any day of the week, just let me cook. I'm hoping my great relationship with Teresa, one of the top on-air personalities at KXLY, will help in the effort. I've set the computer to send a message to KXLY every two weeks. I'm hoping it's just a matter of time before I'll be back on KXLY, serving-up some of Mike's seafood to the viewers.

My grilled pizza list is growing! I hadn't thought of figs, but of course that would be a wonderful ingredient on a grilled pizza-something along the lines of grilled figs, mabye some prosciutto, and certainly some cheese. Maybe a tangy goat cheese to accent the sweet figs and salty prosciutto? (I think we'll be grilling pizza for months to come!)

Our grilled pizza cook-off has inspired one of my friends to grill a "white" pizza with clams and arugula next weekend. (It sounds delicious). I've asked him to report back to us, with photos, on his efforts. Has anyone had experience with grilling a seafood pizza?

I was a bit worried that my standard pie crust recipe wouldn’t hold-up under the intense heat of a hardwood charcoal fire. It took me a number of years to perfect my pastry crust recipe—a combination of recipes taken from my Grandmother Mildred Ross, Great Aunt Bertie and an old edition of the Betty Crocker Cookbook. It’s a delicate crust using a combination of both Crisco and butter, that yields a very light crust with layer upon layer of buttery flakes of pastry. I rarely vary the recipe, but on occasion I'll add a few drops of apple cider vinegar, (which gives the crust a bit more texture), or some shredded, sharp Cheddar cheese, (for an apple custard galette). The pastry crust recipe calls for all-purpose flour, cake flour, salted butter, Crisco, sugar, salt and ice water- This is the pastry crust dough after the butter and Crisco are cut into the flour by hand. I use an old-fashioned pastry cutter because, in my opinion, a food processor buzzes the butter and Crisco into little granules of sand that leave you with a pie crust that disintegrates. By cutting the pastry by hand I have better control over the size of the pieces of butter and Crisco. And as you can see, I prefer to keep the pieces bigger than the standard “pea” size because it allows for more layers of flaky pastry within the finished crust. And the finished pastry crust after adding ice water and binding together. I let the pastry dough sit in the refrigerator to relax for an hour before rolling out- After resting and cooling for an hour, the pastry rolled out- As I mentioned above, this small metal grate proved to be an invaluable tool for the grilling of the sweet pizza. In this photo, it serves as the template for cutting the pastry dough into a round that will fit the rack for grilling- I don’t really know exactly what inspired me to use this “second grate.” I think it was partly a combination of the feedback discussed earlier when we talked about grilling pizza dough over the fire and moving it around the grate to keep the bottom from burning. And it was also due in part to my fear of the apricots slipping through the wide grates on the grill. I thought of using a basic, rectangular rack normally used for cooling freshly-baked cookies, but it was too big. Then I remembered I had this round cooling rack that was just the right size. The little indentations of the cooling rack fit perfectly in the spaces of the larger rack over the grill. And so the “second grate technique” was born- The cut pastry crust ready for grilling- Another important piece of feedback I gathered from our discussions was to have my garnishes ready to go outside right by the grill. I’d grill the pastry crust first just to the point of getting the bottom crust done, then pull the crust off the grill, top the pizza, and then finish it back on the grill. The garnishes for the sweet pizza included honey, candied pecans and mascarpone cheese. (I added vanilla to the mascarpone for flavor and a couple of spoons of milk to thin the cheese)- I used applewood chips for grilling both the apricots and the pizza to add an extra flavor element of smoke. The applewood chips should be soaked in water for about an hour before adding on top of the fire- The fire I made for the savory pizza was too hot and would have torched my delicate pastry crust in a matter of seconds. The “sweet pizza” fire used about half the amount of hardwood- The line-up for the sweet pizza—the pastry crust, pre-grilled apricots, honey, candied pecans, mascarpone, butter for brushing the crust just before grilling and fresh basil leaves for the final garnish- This is my “training” photo for the “second grate technique.” As you can see, the smaller grate allowed me the ability to easily slide it over the top of the main grate in order to control the amount of heat hitting the bottom of the pizza crust. Using a silicone spatula to move the grate, I found this technique to be much easier than slapping a big round of pizza dough directly on top of the main grate. I heated the second grate directly over the fire for a few minutes, then slid it off the fire, slid the pastry dough off the parchment onto the second grate, then slid the second grate back over the top of the fire- Another advantage of the “second grate” is that you can easily check the doneness of the bottom of the crust- Using my stylish garden gloves, I easily picked up the second grate to check the bottom of the pastry crust- After about 20 minutes of grilling the pastry crust, I took it off the fire and added the grilled apricots and some drizzles of honey- Dollops of mascarpone- Candied pecans- And a view of the bottom of the crust of the finished sweet pizza. (Imagine the aroma of a freshly baked pie crust combined with the crispy texture of a perfectly grilled pizza)- Ever since I attended a pastry workshop at “Vegas Uncork’d,” I’ve been thinking about adding unusual flavor elements into my desserts at home. During the workshop in Las Vegas, Sarah Kosikowski, Pastry Chef at Michael Mina at Bellagio, shared her technique for adding sweet paprika to smooth-out chocolate ganache. Sarah gave us a lesson on how adding savory elements to sweet desserts can bring them to another flavor dimension. That little bit of information stuck with me, and I decided to put it to the test with my grilled sweet pizza. I added some cayenne to the candied pecans to see how the heat of the pepper would accent the sugar. It worked! Rather than garnish my sweet pizza with the ubiquitous sprig of mint, I decided to add fresh basil. It worked! The licorice flavor and perfume of the basil perfectly accented the sweetness of the grilled apricots and the vanilla flavor of the ice cream. The final garnish for the sweet pizza, fresh leaves of basil- A close-up of the grilled sweet pizza. The “delicate” crust held its own against the heat of the grill. It just took some finesse on my part to handle the crust properly- The final result, “Grilled Sweet Pizza with Apricots, Mascarpone, Candied Pecans and Basil.” Served with vanilla ice cream-

Thank you everyone for adding your tips for grilling pizza. As you’ll read and see in my following posts, your feedback, (especially the tips on the fire and “pre-grilling” the pizza before topping it), proved to be of great value to me when I grilled a “sweet pizza.” My attempts at grilling a sweet pizza spanned over three days due to threatening thunderstorms in our local area. Rain and lightning don’t make for perfect pizza grilling conditions. So excuse me for taking that long to share the results of the grilled sweet pizza. At least for me, it was worth the time and effort. Like my first attempt at grilling a savory pizza, I was venturing into unchartered territory with grilling a sweet pizza. Would the sweet dough that I use for pie crust work over a hot grill fired by charcoal? How would a sweet, soft cheese like mascarpone stand-up to the heat of a grill? And would the elements I chose—apricots, candied pecans spiced with cayenne, mascarpone, honey and fresh basil—make for a balanced, flavorful sweet pizza? I started the sweet pizza by making candied pecans in the oven and then grilling the apricots. The candied pecan recipe included sugar, salt, corn syrup and a good measure of cayenne pepper for heat- The pecans are tossed with the sugars and spices and baked in the oven for about 15 minutes until they are toasted and crisp. (This is the first time I’ve combined a sweet and hot element in a dessert. I was nervous about the combination, but it worked fabulously with the other flavors of the pizza). I kept the apricots simple, just cut in half and placed on the grill—no added sugar or honey, just raw apricots. I used the same hardwood charcoal I used for the savory pizza, and this time I added some applewood chunks to add another smoky flavor element. I placed the apricot halves on top of a smaller grate that is typically used for cooling hot pans. This contraption, something I've come to name the "second grate technique," would prove to be an invaluable tool later on- I grilled the apricots for about 10 minutes- The next steps will be crafting the foundation of the sweet pizza—the crust—a very different crust than the one I used for the savory pizza.

Last night I planned on grilling a sweet pizza for the "Grilled Pizza Cook-off" topic here . My plan was to use the coals for also grilling a ribeye steak and some vegetables. Unfortunately, we had serious thunder and lightning storms in the area so I didn't want to risk my safety--let alone risk the fire being snuffed out by rain--so I did my grilled steak dinner in the kitchen. I use a cast iron grill pan over medium-high heat for grilling indoors. I seasoned the ribeye with black pepper, chipotle chili powder and a dash of salt. Then seared it for a couple of minutes on each side before finishing the steak in a 500 oven for a couple of minutes. I served the ribeye with a grilled vegetable salad of yellow and green zucchini and eggplant. I dressed the vegetables with olive oil, lemon juice, a touch of apple cider vinegar, salt, pepper, dried oregano and fresh chives. The sauce on the plate are a combination of the salad dressing and steak pan juices. Grilled Steak and Vegetable Salad-

I caught a replay of the first episode last night. I'm glad Chef Keller did so well-he's a heck of a nice guy in person in addition to being a great Chef. He tends to get less press than some of his contemporaries, but he's every bit as talented as any Chef in America today. His show on PBS is very good. I wasn't at all bothered with his trip to the shower to wash the macaroni. For a moment I flinched, but then I thought, "what a great solution." I suppose on the regular "Top Chef" show he would have been marked down for not technically doing all the cooking in the actual dorm room. But I think for "Top Chef Masters," given the light personality of the show and the fact that they are working toward charitable donations, I think the rules will be a little looser.

I tried to keep the coals over to one side of the grill because I knew if I spread the coals out over the entire space of the grill the pizza would incinerate. Well, it almost did incinerate even with the coals to one side! I used about twice as many coals as I should have, and from what you see below, you can imagine how hot the fire was. Even with the coals to one side the pizza was done in about two minutes. Tommorrow I'll light a fire about half as intense for grilling my sweet pizza with grilled apricots.

Here, here. I'm pretty much a traditionalist when it comes to cooking with my outdoor grill, and that means charcoal or wood. It's terribly hard to control the heat, but the effort is worth it to give food that authentic, smoky flavor.

Great tips, thanks! Now later this week when I attempt the "sweet" pizza I'll be using a recipe for a sweet pie crust. That may present some unique challenges since it isn't a yeast dough like I used for the savory grilled pizza. My sweet pizza crust will be a combination of all-purpose flour, cake flour, butter, shortening, a hint of sugar and a dash of salt. After combining the dough with water, I let it rest in the refrigerator for about an hour before rolling it out for pie crust-or in this case, a crust for a grilled sweet pizza. Does anyone out there have experience grilling a pizza using a non-yeast dough?

Sounds delicious, and thank you for the tips on grilling. Now I'm really going to be busy grilling pizza along with lots of barbecued meats this summer!

Here is the grilled pizza off the fire. I've garnished it with Nicoise olives and grilled red onions- And garnished with the cucumber raita and fresh mint- A close-up of the grilled pizza- And sliced into wedges- The final test of whether or not I had been successful at grilling pizza was the taste-test. I’d give myself a passing grade--not an “A,” but a solid “B.” The toppings were delicious, but the the foundation of my grilled pizza, the crust, was what brought down the final grade. It was too thick, a bit dry and it was charred on the bottom. Surprisingly, the burned layer on the bottom of the crust didn’t really disturb the overall flavor of the pizza. I suppose I could justify the blackened bottom of the crust on my grilled pizza by putting it in terms that only a food writer could conceive-“the charred crust on the bottom of the pizza added a layer of crisp texture that accented the soft pillows of the upper crust which held the spicy yet cooling garnishes, all the elements adding to the “rustic” taste of the grilled pizza.” Next time I’ll roll out the dough so it’s thinner. The recipe I use for regular pizza dough rises a lot, resulting in a final crust that is thicker than I would prefer for my next grilled pizza. And I'll only add a smattering of toppings so they'll cook at the same pace as the crust. Secondly, I’ll thoroughly brush the crust with olive oil so that it doesn’t dry out while it’s on the grill. (This may be a bit tricky because I don’t want the olive oil to ignite while the pizza is grilling). I’ll tame the fire a bit by using about half as many hardwood briquets. I think I got the fire too blazing hot this time, good for searing a steak but not so good for grilling a pizza. And I’ll try the above suggestions for quickly grilling one side of the crust, adding the toppings, then finishing the pizza on the grill. Later this week I’ll try another pizza grilling adventure-a dessert pizza using a sweet crust, apricots, honey, walnuts and mascarpone cheese. Show us your best grilled pizza!

Thanks! And yes, we still have the cucumber raita and some fresh mint to garnish the grilled pizza. Stay tuned.

Actually, I didn't have a sound philosophy for grilled pizza prior to this attempt. And based on our discussons so far, I'm learning that the philosophy of less is best applies to grilling pizza. A heavy layer of toppings would probably never get hot enough, nor would the cheese melt properly, before the crust would be incinerated on the grill. I didn't have any problems moving the pizza around the grill. I just used the wooden peel to maneuver it so the crust would cook evenly. I wear heavy work gloves when I'm grilling to help keep the heat at bay. The pizza on the grill directly over the coals- And moved off direct heat and turned using the pizza peel, (you can see some char marks from the grill starting to appear on the bottom right corner of the crust)- A nice little blister of dough puffing up on the edge of the pizza. But, as you can see in the lower right corner of the pizza, the bottom of the crust is charred a bit more than I would have liked-

I was finally getting to the point of grilling the pizza. After the initial rise I stretched and rolled the dough, placing it on a pizza peel that was dusted with cornmeal- As you can see from the photo, at least in my kitchen, the answer is pretty clear-a pizza doesn’t have to be round. In fact, I don’t think I’m capable of forming a perfectly round circle of pizza dough. Yet I suppose one can find beauty in a “rustic” pizza that is hand-crafted--the unique personality of each pizza coming from the fact that it isn’t “perfectly” round. I brushed the dough with some olive oil, covered it with a towel and let it rise for another 45 minutes and then it would be ready for the toppings- As I mentioned earlier, I didn’t do a lot of research on grilling pizza before I undertook this adventure. I wanted to learn as I went along, and I knew that I’d gain a lot of knowledge through our discussions that I could apply to my next attempt at grilling pizza. Trust me when I say that I quickly learned that the two most critical areas of concern when grilling pizza are the crust and the fire. I had spent hours making the harissa, the lamb merguez sausage, the raita and proofing the dough, but it would be the timing of the last few minutes of the process, the grilling, that would prove to be the defininf moments of my success, or lack thereof, at grilling pizza. While the dough was rising a second time, I started the fire using natural hardwood charcoal- Now things were literally heating up-the fire was lit and the crust was ready for the toppings. I’d have to run the pizza outside to the grill at precisely the time the coals were hot, slide it onto the grill, hope that the sausage would heat through before the crust burned, then run the hot pizza back inside and garnish it with the chilled raita and sprigs of mint just before slicing and serving. (The beverage part of dinner was easy-cold beer was poured and the chilled Sauvignon Blanc had been opened). Building the pizza, beginning with the lamb merguez- And grilled red onions- And some Nicoise olives- A beauty of a white-hot fire of hardwood charcoal. Did I get the fire too hot for my grilled pizza? For a very, very short moment I wanted to cheat. I wanted to put my oven pizza stone on top of the grill. I knew if I did used the pizza stone the crust probably wouldn't burn-at least it wouldn't burn as quickly as if the pizza was put directly on the grill. But that would be cheating wouldn't it? Williams-Sonoma sells a contraption that is basically a pizza stone that will fit on your outdoor grill. But simply cooking a pizza on a hot stone, whether it's in your oven or over some hot coals isn't technically a "grilled" pizza. A true "grilled" pizza is just that-a pizza put directly on your grill. I didn't cheat. I continued on to the moment of truth in grilling pizza.

Because I was going astray from typical pizza toppings with the lamb merguez, I felt that a traditional pizza topping of cheese wouldn’t be the best accompaniment to the spicy sausage. I decided that the main garnish on the pizza should be a cool, refreshing, crisp, cucumber raita to tame the heat and spice of the sausage. The ingredients for the raita--plain yogurt, cucumber (peeled, seeded and diced), lemon juice and zest, cilantro, mint and cumin seeds- I don’t really use a recipe with measurements when I make raita. Depending on what I’m serving the raita with, I’ll vary the amount of yogurt and cucumber to give the raita a heavier or looser texture. For this version, I used less yogurt and more cucumber to stand-up to the merguez. Next steps, stoking the fire and rolling out the dough.

My pleasure. As you probably know, harissa is a versatile spice paste that is a wonderful addition to all sorts of dishes. And it made for one good spicy lamb merguez to add to my grilled pizza. You can use whatever dried chiles suit your tastes and propensity for heat. I tend to use mild chiles. For this harissa I used about 6 guajillo chiles and about 5 ancho chiles. -10 dried chiles -3 cloves garlic, cut in half -2 tbsp. olive oil -2 tsp. caraway seeds -1 tsp. ground cumin -2 tsp. ground coriander -1 tsp. salt Black pepper Re-constitute the dried chiles in hot water for about 40 minutes. Using rubber gloves, pull off the stem and remove the seeds from the chiles. (Reserve the poaching liquid and use in soups, stews and chili). Place the chiles in a blender or food processor. Heat the olive oil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add the garlic cloves and the caraway seeds and toast just until the seeds start to brown and pop, about a minute. Pour the olive oil, garlic and caraway seeds in the blender and add the cumin, coriander, salt and black pepper. Puree the harissa into a paste, adding some of the chile poaching liquid if the sauce is too thick.

As noted above by some of our grilled pizza experts, one of the keys to a grilled pizza is getting the temperature of your fire just right and balancing that with the proper technique for moving the pizza around the grill so that the crust doesn’t burn. (I can attest it is a matter of experience and one I haven’t yet mastered, but more on that, with visuals, later). Another key point mentioned above is planning, pre-cooking and assembling your pizza toppings before you get to the point of grilling the pizza. I realized before grilling that I would need to pre-cook the meat for my pizza because 3-4 minutes on the grill would only be enough time to cook the crust-not nearly long enough to adequately cook lamb sausage. Merguez is a spicy sausage typically made from lamb or beef and is most often associated with North African cuisine. However, merguez is popular throughout the world and has recently found a welcome spot on my roster of homemade sausages. I recently made lamb merguez and used it as the meat stuffing for tacos-a marriage of North African and Mexican cuisine if you will. I thought the idea of making a spicy meat sausage would marry well with a smoky, grilled pizza--a crisp-crust topped with a spicy mix of ground lamb garnished with dollops of refreshing, crisp, cucumber raita. I prefer to make merguez myself because I can control the level of heat and the mix of aromatic spices in the sausage. One of the characteristics of the merguez I make is the addition of harissa, a paste made from dried chile peppers, garlic, cumin, coriander and caraway seeds. I used a combination of mild guajillo chiles and medium ancho chiles in the harissa- The dried peppers need to be re-constituted in hot water for about 40 minutes- The most important step at this point- put on rubber gloves before you handle the softened chiles! The chiles are seeded, cored and put in a blender or food processor to be pureed with the aromatics- Garlic and caraway seed toasting in olive oil for a few minutes before being added to the mixture of chiles, salt, black pepper, ground cumin and ground coriander- The blended harissa. I’ll add a few spoons to the lamb merguez- The lamb mixture included ground lamb, garlic, harissa, cinnamon, fennel seeds, ground coriander and ground cumin- On some occasions I’ll stuff the lamb merguez into sausage casings, but for the grilled pizza I cooked the lamb merguez “loose”- The next steps will show the additional garnishes, shaping and forming the pizza dough, then “into the fire” we’ll go.