Grilled Pizza is a summer time favorite in our house. Grilling the dough makes it bubbly, crispy and chewy. If we make pizza at home this is how I like the dough cooked. This recipe is really simplicity at its best. Just really good ingredients and a fail-proof method. This family adores a good pepperoni pizza, but I love the straightforwardness of just tomato and cheese. I wrestled with whether to call this a grilled margherita pizza, because tomato and cheese are the star of the show, but this is by no means your ordinary margherita pizza! While cooking this grilled pizza, our house smelled like what I would an imagine an Italian grandmother’s would smell like.
Tomato and basil are here, but the classic mozzarella topping has been swapped for fontina, pecorino and parmigiano, which gave the grilled pizza so much more flavor! When its finished it’s topped with thinly sliced scallions which give it a slight onion bite. This recipe calls for San Marzano tomatoes, which I highly recommend you use. San Marzano tomatoes have a stronger tomato flavor, are sweeter and less acidic. That flavor profile is important to the taste of this grilled pizza, since the tomatoes are going on the grilled pizza straight from the can. Anytime I make sauce from scratch I use San Marzano because it gives the sauce a wonderful base of flavor. Once you try San Marzano tomatoes you won’t be able to settle for just any kind of can tomatoes again.
* Feel free to use this grilling method for any toppings or combination you like. This method is a good one to have in your back pocket, we go back to it again and again while switching up the ingredients.
- 16 ounces pizza dough, divided into 2 -8 ounce balls
- ½ cup, extra virgin olive oil
- ½ tsp minced garlic, optional
- ⅔ cup fontina
- ⅓ Parmigiano Reggiano
- ¼ cup Pecorino Romano
- ¾ cup crushed San Marzano tomatoes (6 Tbsp per pizza)
- ¼ cup parsley, loosely packed
- 8 basil leaves
- 2 small scallions, thinly sliced
- Heat a grill or grill pan over high heat.
- On a large, oiled, inverted baking sheet, spread and flatten 1 -8 ounce ball of dough with your hands into a 12-inch free-form circle, ⅛-inch thick. Do not make a lip. You might end up with a rectangle rather than a circle; the shape is not important, but do make sure the thickness is even.
- Use your fingertips to lift the dough gently by the 2 corners closest to you, and drape in onto the grill. Catch the loose edge on the grill first and slide the remaining dough into place over the fire. Within a minute the dough will puff slightly, the underside will stiffen, and grill marks will appear. Cook 3-4 minutes on each side. Set the cooked dough aside on a sheet pan. Repeat the process with the remaining dough. Place the finished dough on the sheet pan with the other dough
- Prep the remaining ingredients and place in an assembly line. In a small bowl combine the garlic (if using) and cheeses. Chop the parsley and basil together and place in another small bowl.
- Brush the cooked dough with olive oil and then sprinkle the cheese mixture between both crusts. On each crust, spoon 6 tablespoons of tomatoes over the cheese. Do not cover the entire surface of the pizza with tomatoes. Sprinkle with parsley and basil. Drizzle each pizza with 1 to 2 tablespoons of oil. Place each pizza back on the grill and cook for an additional 6-7 minutes. About 5-6 minutes into the cooking time, sprinkle with scallions. The pizzas are done when the top is bubbly and the cheese melted. Serve immediately.
*Most San Marzano tomatoes are sold whole in can. Drain off the juice and reserve for another use, then crush the whole tomatoes finely by hand.
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