Grilled Mediterranean Pizza

  Fresh basil and warm weather bring grilling and pesto to mind , so grilling a Mediterranean pizza isn't that far of a stretch. I haven't tried grilling pizza before, but it seemed a natural next step from making pizza in an oven not to mention it sounded like a whole bunch of fun. The following recipe turned out very well and will definitely be on the menu for this summer's entertaining.

Grilled Mediterranean Pizza

1/2 store bought pizza dough

1/2 c pesto sauce

1 c grated mozzarella cheese

1/2 c crumbled feta cheese

10 pitted Kalamata olives

1 sliced Roma tomato

Warm your grill on a low flame for about 5 minutes before starting to cook your pizza. I use gas. If you use charcoal you will have less control over the end product and the learning curve will be a bit longer, but friends tell me they prefer the taste they get from charcoal. Either way I am sure you will have fun.

I use a similar technique as explained here for managing the pizza dough. Since this is one half of a regular sized dough, the stretching process is a little different. I spread it as best I can with my hands and fingers and get roughly a football shaped pizza dough when finished.

When the grill is warmed and set on the lowest flame, flop the stretched dough on the center of the grilling surface. This process varies from grill to grill and the best term I can think of to explain it is flame management. You don't want to burn it, but you don't want raw dough either. Watch it and when you think the bottom has a nice color to it, spray the top of the dough with cooking spray and flip the entire pizza dough over by whatever means you see fit. I grab an end and flip it by hand.

Start spreading the pesto sauce and then evenly spread the mozzarella cheese on top. Next sprinkle the feta cheese and lay the tomatoes and olives on. While performing this step if I feel the dough is getting too well done I will shut the flame off until I am done putting the toppings on and then I will start the grill up again for the final step.

With all the toppings loaded, close the grill lid so the cheese can melt. This usually takes a few minutes. If burning the dough is a concern, shut the flame off and leave the lid closed until the pizza is done. If you have room on your grill, you can shut part of it off and put the pizza on that 'cool' part and shut the lid. It will act like an oven and heat the top without burning the bottom.

Enjoy!

TTFN

B.