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Pizza on the Grill

The scorching hot temperature of an outdoor grill, with the addition of a pizza stone, does a fine job of emulating a pizza oven. The result is a crispy, beautifully burnished crust all done in an ordinary barbecue.

Ingredients

  • 1 pound pizza dough , homemade or store bought
  • Tomato sauce or pesto sauce
  • Shredded Mozzarella or other firm grating cheese (or sliced fresh Mozzarella)
  • Favorite toppings , such as arugula, olives, roasted red peppers, artichoke hearst, cherry tomatoes, fresh basil, and prosciutto

Instructions

  1. Put a pizza stone on the center of the grill. Turn the grill to the highest setting. For a charcoal grill, get the charcoal going. Close the lid to the grill.
  2. Divide the pizza dough into 2 equal balls. Lightly coat pizza peel or a wooden cutting board with flour. Roll out one ball of dough into a very thin circle (9 or 10-inches in diameter) that is slightly thicker around the edges for the crust. As you are rolling, periodically check to see that the dough isn't sticking at all to the wood. If it is, scatter a little more flour on the board.
  3. Once the dough is rolled out, jostle the pizza peel to be sure the pizza will be able to move freely off the board when the time comes. Lightly brush or spoon tomato sauce or pesto sauce onto the pizza, leaving the crust free of sauce. Be careful not to drip sauce onto the edges of the dough or the board, since that will cause the dough to stick to the board. If you do get sauce on the pizza peel, wipe it away and put some flour between board and dough to prevent sticking.
  4. Sprinkle cheese over the top of the pizza and finish with favorite toppings.
  5. Once the pizza oven is piping hot, open the lid and carefully transfer the pizza from the peel to the stone. Tilting and jiggling the board as you transfer the pizza will help it along.
  6. Shut the lid and bake until the dough is firm and crusty and the cheese is bubbling. This can go as quickly as a couple of minutes. Once done, use tongs to pull the pizza off the grill onto a cutting board.
  7. While the first pizza cooks, assemble the remaining pizza on the peel.