Grilled Pizza: Cook-Off 48

[David Ross]

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?

[vice]

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?

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Yep, chopped clams, garlic, olive oil, parsley, lemon zest, and my standard mix of fontina, pecorino, and parmiggiano. A fantastic combination.

[rickster]

Another idea for a sweet pizza crust would be to use something like a sweet bread dough, maybe like a brioche, which would be closer to the original pizza concept.

[DanM]

David,

Once again a masterpiece. I am addicted to apricots, so as soon as I find decent ones around here, I will have to give it a try. I will probably slice my apricots after grilling, but that is a personal preference. I also think this would work very well with figs.

Dan

[David Ross]

David,

Once again a masterpiece. I am addicted to apricots, so as soon as I find decent ones around here, I will have to give it a try. I will probably slice my apricots after grilling, but that is a personal preference. I also think this would work very well with figs.

Dan

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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!)

[Teya9]

chopped tomatoes, feta cheese. lemon peel and cilantro all mixed together make a yummy topping for grilled pizza

[David Ross]

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?

[DanM]

David. The roasted lobster with coconut red curry just might work. Maybe use naan or other Indian style bread for the crust?

Going back to your marguez sausage pizza. How much ground meat did you use? As soon as the rain stops falling around here, I will definitely be grilling pizza for a few days.

Dan

[David Ross]

David. The roasted lobster with coconut red curry just might work. Maybe use naan or other Indian style bread for the crust?

Going back to your marguez sausage pizza. How much ground meat did you use? As soon as the rain stops falling around here, I will definitely be grilling pizza for a few days.

Dan

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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.

[snowangel]

Grilling pizza tonight. I noted in "American Pie" that he recommends cheese UNDER sauce.

Comments, please?

[David Ross]

Grilling pizza tonight.  I noted in "American Pie" that he recommends cheese UNDER sauce.

Comments, please?

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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?

[snowangel]

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.

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Ahem. You forgot the anchovies, and season permitting, grilled ramps.

I'm thinking I'll try a very small one, at first, with the cheese first, sauce second method tonight.

[ElsieD]

Grilling pizza tonight.  I noted in "American Pie" that he recommends cheese UNDER sauce.

Comments, please?

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It helps the pizza from becoming soggy from the sauce.

[snowangel]

We grilled pizza the other night (with dough I'd made a while ago and frozen -- which is a great idea).

We grilled some on our new-to-us gas grill (forgive me, it was a gift) and some on the Trusty Old Kettle. The Kettle produced better pizza, but none of them had that blistering brown cheesey crust on the top that we like. ???

[lancastermike]

We grilled pizza the other night (with dough I'd made a while ago and frozen -- which is a great idea).

We grilled some on our new-to-us gas grill (forgive me, it was a gift) and some on the Trusty Old Kettle.  The Kettle produced better pizza, but none of them had that blistering brown cheesey crust on the top that we like.  ???

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My very first attempt at grilled pizza was during the blog linked to in my sig line in company with Susan and Marlene. Since than my results remain spotty. I can say that the difference between a crisp crust with a little char and one that is flat out burnt is a very fine line. As others have suggested go light on the toppings and any items that need to be cooked should all be done in advance. I also cook the crust, pull it off and add toppings and than return it to finish.

Also, I now know why the sun rose in the west this morning. Susan admits to using a gas grill!!!! I was flummoxed when I saw this. Man oh man, next thing will be electricity at the cabin. Oh Wait. That already happened.

[Katie Meadow]

Grilling pizza tonight.  I noted in "American Pie" that he recommends cheese UNDER sauce.

Comments, please?

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It helps the pizza from becoming soggy from the sauce.

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The best way I've found to keep the crust from getting soggy due to sauce is to prebake the crust for a few minutes before adding all toppings. And to keep the amount of sauce (and cheese) modest. We often do a 3 or 4 minute pre-bake (using a stone in the oven or no stone on the grill) and then flip the crust so the crispier side takes the sauce. I've never put cheese under the sauce and I get a thin crispy crust this way.

If I had a stone that fit my grill I would use it, but it only fits my indoor oven.

[DanM]

Although I did not have my camera handy, I did make a nice cheese burger pizza on Tuesday. A mix of cheddar and scornoza was spread on the crust (no sauce) topped with fake beef crumbles and caramelized onions. After it came off the grill and it cooled a bit, I added shredded lettuce, pickle slices, and tomato slices. It was quite tasty.

I have a new experiement that I think David Ross will enjoy. I won't be able to get to it until Monday, but it will be fun.

S'mores pizza!

I plan on using a rich dough for the crust, probably my tried and true sticky bun dough. Then it will be topped with hashahar Israeli chocolate spread (think nutella, but better), mini marshmallows, chocolate chips, and gram cracker crumbs.

[David Ross]

Although I did not have my camera handy, I did make a nice cheese burger pizza on Tuesday. A mix of cheddar and scornoza was spread on the crust (no sauce) topped with fake beef crumbles and caramelized onions. After it came off the grill and it cooled a bit, I added shredded lettuce, pickle slices, and tomato slices. It was quite tasty.

I have a new experiement that I think David Ross will enjoy. I won't be able to get to it until Monday, but it will be fun.

S'mores pizza!

I plan on using a rich dough for the crust, probably my tried and true sticky bun dough. Then it will be topped with hashahar Israeli chocolate spread (think nutella, but better), mini marshmallows, chocolate chips, and gram cracker crumbs.

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You are right, David Ross WILL enjoy looking at your experiment with a sweet, grilled pizza. Sounds delicious.

[David Ross]

Gosh it's hard to believe we started our Grilled Pizza Cook-Off back in 2009, and the world of grilling, grills and pizza has taken on so many changes since then. Our recent discussions over in the Pizza Toppings thread reminded me to bring back this topic as we head into summer grilling season.  https://forums.egullet.org/topic/20749-pizza-toppings-simpleelaborate-traditionalunusual/page/14/?tab=comments#comment-2249775 I recently purchased some new grates for my old Weber kettle grill, so I'll be doing some new grilled pizzas this year, hopefully much better than the pizzas I did all those 11 years ago.

[Chris Hennes]

Until this year I'd never made an actual grilled pizza, just pan pizza cooked on the grill. But right now I'm working on my actual grilled pizza technique, and tonight's result was the best so far (I mean, you'd hope I was actually getting better at it, but alas that is not always the case!). I'm using the Modernist Bread recipe for Modernist Neapolitan Pizza Dough, and cooking on a two-level fire. I like a bit of char on the crust, but it's easy to overdo it, so that's where my focus is right now. I didn't time it, but I think this was probably about 90 seconds on the high heat side, and then flipped over onto the low heat and topped, and cooked for maybe 3-4 minutes longer. The crust was exactly what I wanted: crisp in the middle and pillowy-soft at the edges, with well-developed flavor and enough structure to hold together despite a liberal hand with the tomato sauce.

 

[Chris Hennes]

Tonight's toppings are a medley of the contents of my fridge. I had a bunch of little Pyrex bowls of leftovers from the week: olives, capers, and tomatoes. Plus rosemary from the monster in my front yard, and ricotta. The sauce is crushed tomatoes, Dubonnet Rouge, salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, dried oregano, and olive oil.

 

 

 

This was cooked for 90 seconds on the first side over high heat, then turned onto the low heat side and cooked for four more minutes. It was probably slightly overdone for my preference, but still quite good. The texture was excellent.

[heidih]

10 hours ago, Chris Hennes said:

Plus rosemary from the monster in my front yard, and ricotta. The sauce is crushed tomatoes, Dubonnet Rouge, salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, dried oregano, and olive oil.

 

 

We are "in" as always. Ya know the rosemary flowers and if you have fresh oregano include some greenage with the bloom - nice fried.  Yes the flowers are teensy but pack a delightful punch. Love to see a pic of your monster. 

[Chris Hennes]

This dough was not originally intended to be pizza - it's just the basic sourdough recipe from Modernist Bread, unmodified. But, then I wanted pizza. When grilled it gives a soft, puffy crust, and doesn't really take on much charring. Of course the flavor is excellent, though a little drowned out by too many toppings, so I went with simple.

 

[Chris Hennes]

This dough was intended to be pizza, but not grilled! But when I slide pizza #1 off my peel onto my baking steel, I got a pretty good slosh of olive oil off the pizza into the oven, which of course was at 550°F. So, after a panicky couple of minutes setting up some ad hoc ventilation, we ate that pizza (which was delicious), but then made the second one on the grill. It's a quattro formaggi, with just olive oil as the sauce. The cheeses are mozzarella di bufala, ricotta, gorgonzola, and parmigiano. I also hit it with a pretty sizable dose of ground purple peppercorns from Burlap & Barrel.

 

[Chris Hennes]

I'm back to playing around with grilling technique. On this one I hit the top with a Searzall after putting the toppings on. Overall I think it's a good strategy.