Friday, March 19, 2010

Grilled pizza with proscuitto



The weather has been amazing here and it's time to fire up the grill. Tonight we're going to make grilled pizza, it's easy and a delicious way to enjoy a perennial family favorite.

You can either use store bought pizza dough or make your own.

Pizza ingredients:
pizza dough
olive oil
1 C. smoked mozzarella cheese, grated
3-4 pieces proscuitto
garlic salt
1 c. baby arugula
balsamic vinegar

Here's a good recipe for homemade pizza dough:

1/2 cup warm water (about 110˚)
1 envelope (2 1/4 tsp) instant yeast
1 1/4 cups water, at room temperature
2 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
4 cups (22 oz) bread flour, plus more for dusting
1 1/2 tsp. salt
olive oil or non-stick cooking spray for greasing the bowl
olive oil for brushing crust (optional)
garlic salt for brushing crust (optional)

Measure the warm water into a 2-cup liquid measuring cup. Sprinkle in the yeast and let stand until the yeast dissolves and swells, about 5 minutes. Add the room temperature water and oil and stir to combine.

Place the flour and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Briefly combine the dry ingredients at low speed. Slowly add the liquid ingredients and continue to mix at low speed until a cohesive mass form. Stop the mixer and replace the paddle with the dough hook. Knead until the dough is smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes. Form the dough into a ball, put it in a deep oiled bowl, and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise until doubled in size, about 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Press the dough to deflate it.

To make the grilled pizza:

Preheat grill to high and close lid. While the grill heats, press dough gently with your hands slowly pulling the dough out. I like to make a rectangular shape as I find it's easier to flip on the grill.

When the grill is hot, brush it with a paper towel that's been rubbed with olive oil.

Carefully place the dough on the grill and cook for 3 minutes or until pizza has a nice golden color, flip, and brush with olive oil. Add a little tomato sauce, about 1 C. of grated smoked mozzarella cheese and a few slices of proscuitto. Add a sprinkling of garlic salt and let cook for another few minutes until cheese is melted and bubbly.

Remove from the grill and slice into pieces. I like to top this pizza with a handful of baby arugula, a little drizzle of olive oil and a dot or two of balsamic vinegar.

Enjoy!

2 comments:

Toad's Lair said...

Sounds amazing!!!

The Bonnie Marcus Collection said...

wow. wish I saw this when we didn't have power in the house. I will have to try this... thanks!