Pizza Grilling

I LOVE grilled pizza!  The crust comes out crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside.  My mom bought a new grill just before I arrived in Seattle, so this past weekend my brother and my niece came over and we grilled up some pizzas!  We made a pepperoni pizza and a meatball, mushroom, and pepper pizza.   Usually I make my own crust, but since Trader Joe's is just down the street from my mom's house, and since I am addicted to Trader Joe's and I don't have one in Cedar Rapids (HINT HINT!  BUILD A TRADER JOE'S IN CEDAR RAPIDS), I bought Trader Joe's pizza crusts.  LOVE Trader Joe's.  LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE times one bazillion!  The trick to grilling pizza is grilling the crust on both sides first, then putting your toppings on, otherwise you risk ending up with a huge, gooey mess that is burnt on the bottom and still raw in the middle.  The other piece of advice I have is to use sauce sparingly and don't go heavy on the toppings or it will be difficult to remove from the grill.  Here's what we did:


Grilled Pizza a la Foodie Mommie

• 1 ball of pizza dough, either whole wheat or white, whatever you like.  You can use my pizza crust recipe, or your own!
• 1 cup shredded cheese (your favorite kind for pizza.  I use mozzarella and parmesan but you can use any kind you like depending on the type of pizza you are making).
• Your favorite toppings - I made one pepperoni and one with mushrooms, red peppers and cut up meatballs- do not use more than one cup if the toppings are heavy.
• 1/2 cup of pizza sauce - I used Trader Joe's brand this time but oftentimes I make my own.  Sometimes I do BBQ chicken pizza on the grill and when I do that I use BBQ sauce instead of pizza sauce.

Spray your grill generously with cooking spray so that your crust does not stick.  Form your crust into a round about 1/4 inch thick.  Place on the grill and grill on one side about 5 minutes or until it lifts easily and flip over and grill the same amount of time on the other side or until you can lift the crust up and it is no longer "flimsy."  Using a large spatula (or I use the Pampered Chef Mega Lifter), remove the crust from the grill and top with the sauce, toppings and cheese.  Using the large spatula (or Mega Lifter), carefully place the pizza back on the grill and close the lid so that the cheese melts and the toppings heat through.  Remove from heat when cheese is melty and bubbly and pizza is heated through.  Using the same instruments as before, remove the pizza from the grill, cut with a pizza cutter or sharp knife and eat!  YUMMY!

Until next time, happy and HEALTHY cooking and EATING!