Pizza. One of the few dishes that is rarely as good at home as it is at a restaurant. I’ve tried it before but never got the right texture or flavors. It was fine, but it was never good and definitely not ever REALLY good. It seems so simple, though! Dough — Sauce — Toppings. What’s the problem?!

Then I read this article somewhere (I wish I remembered where…) that said that the grill is really the only way that a home cook can replicate the intense heat of a pizza oven. Your oven doesn’t usually get hot enough to achieve that crispy crust while keeping the inside doughy and chewy. Of course! That makes total sense! I knew that pizza was something that could be made on the grill, but I thought it was just one of those things that we grill-freaks would make on the grill just for the sake of grilling.

I started noticing posts on grilled pizza on the food blogs that I read regularly (like here and here). I googled it a bit, looking at recipes and reviewing tips, and came up with the following summary of what almost everyone had to say:

1. Making your own pizza dough is too easy not to do it. Getting in the car, going to the store, buying it, and bringing it home takes more time that making it yourself. That is a true story.
2. Keep the heat on your grill under control. Cook the first side on relatively high heat until it is crispy and has grill marks. Cook the second side on the heat for one minute and then move it over indirect heat (turn off the burners directly under it and keep the other burners on) so that it heats the toppings, but doesn’t burn the crust. If you use charcoal, pile the coals on one half of your grill. Same difference.
3. Keep the toppings to a minimum. Maneuvering the crust on the grill is tricky enough; don’t make it more difficult by loading it up with toppings.
4. Prepare everything ahead of time: the dough, the sauce, the toppings. The dough cooks REALLY fast, so there is no time for multi-tasking. Don’t be a hero.

Other than that, you’re good to go! Making pizza has never been so awesome. You’re going to love it.

I used the whole wheat dough recipe from Mark Bittman’s cookbook, How to Cook Everything. It makes enough for one large pizza crust or two personal-sized pizza crusts. Well… two personal-sized crusts for people like us who eat whatever is placed in front of us. You could serve three people with it if you also had a salad or something. Anyway…

• 1.5 c white flour
• 1.5 c whole wheat flour
• 2 teaspoons instant yeast
• 2 teaspoons coarse salt
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

If you’d rather not make it with whole wheat flour, just replace it with white flour. I did some research on why you can’t use all whole wheat flour; I guess it will be just way too dense. If you look around, though, you can find some recipes with wheat/seed combos that will work and let you ditch the white flour.

I used my stand mixer with the dough hook for this, but your food processor would work fine. I suppose you could do this without power tools if you wanted to. If you wanted to fancy-up your dough, you could add fresh herbs, roasted garlic, or whatever you think might be good. I have to say, though, this dough was mighty tasty on its own. I wouldn’t mess with it too much.

Mix the flour, yeast, and salt in the mixer. With the machine on, slowly add 1.5 cups of water (probably only 1 cup if you use just white flour) and the oil. Add a little, let it mix for about 30 seconds or so. Add a little more, let it mix. Etc. If it is too dry, add just a little more water until it is sticky. If it is too wet, add a little more flour. Just take it easy! Once it is done, knead it a bit on a floured surface and shape into a ball. Put the dough in a bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let it sit for an hour or two until it doubles in size. I let mine sit over night. The next morning, I took it out of the bowl, wrapped it tightly in plastic wrap, and put it in the fridge. Bittman says that this dough also freezes really well for a couple weeks, so make a few batches if you feel so inclined.

Before you try to shape the dough into the crust, let it come to room temperature. It makes it MUCH easier to work with. Once it is ready, split the dough into two balls (or as many crusts as you want) and knead them on a floured surface. Push from the center outward to shape the crust. You can also drape it over your fists and gently stretch it out. I like a thicker crust, so I didn’t work it too much. Also, trying to make the dough into nice round pizzas is pretty much out of the question. Don’t bother.

Put the crusts on a baking sheet or some other large flat surface. Brush them with olive oil. I think using an herb infused oil would be great for this! Toss the dough on the hot grill for about a minute or so. While it is cooking, brush the other side with olive oil. Check to see that they’re cooking — they should have nice grill marks, but shouldn’t be burnt, and they should start to bubble a little bit. Once it is ready, flip using some tongs and those amazing tools that your mama gave ya. Sorry. Use your hands. Now… PAY ATTENTION… let the crust cook over the heat for one minute (literally one minute). Then turn OFF the flames under the crust but leave ON the burners on the other side of the grill. (Or move to the side of your charcoal grill that doesn’t have the pile of coals.) Indirect heat! Remember important point #1? Go back and read it.

Once your dough is cooked and you have your heat all set, start saucing and topping-ing your pizzas. If you’re using a nice melty cheese like mozzella or gouda, I suggest putting the cheese on top of the toppings so it all melts together. Close the lid of the grill and let it cook for a few minutes. Check it from time to time to see that 1) the cheese is melting and 2) your crust isn’t burning. When the bottom of the crust is cooked and your toppings are cooked to your liking, remove from the grill and stand back as your friends and loved ones look at you with utter amazement. The proper response: “What? Haven’t you ever seen an awesome grill-cook make awesomely grilled pizza before? No? Well now you have. You’re welcome.”

For my pizzas, I made a pesto with fresh oregano, mint, and pecans (all things that I had on hand).

• 1/2 cup fresh oregano
• 1/2 cup fresh mint
• 2 garlic cloves crushed
• 1/2 cup toasted pecans
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• Cracked red pepper
• Salt and pepper to taste

Everything EXCEPT for the olive oil into the blender or food processor. Whir until finely minced. Then stream in the olive oil until it is nice and pasty — not too dry, but not too oily. Taste often.

For toppings, I sauteed some onions and peppers. Once the crusts were ready for toppings, I smeared them with pesto, topped with onions and peppers, and sprinkled heavily with feta. (Rachel Ray makes me crazy, but I’m going to say this anyway because it is fitting…) YUM-O!

This was an awesome meal. It was fun to make and great to eat. If you plan ahead and prepare all of your ingredients beforehand, it is also a super quick meal to make. Impress guests with this — everyone can have their pizza topped to their liking. This is also great for families with kids! Everyone gets what they want… plus you can sneak in some healthy stuff too… shhh…

If you decide to grill some pizza, let me know how you top it.