BBQ Pizzas

Every once in a while I get the strongest craving to make dough - bubbly, light pizza dough... and grill it on the BBQ on a hot day.  It's one of my specialties!  Today I made 2 types of dough: regular and whole wheat.  I made two varieties: BBQ Hawaiian Chicken and Spicy Margherita.

Here's how the dough went down; the regular is straight out of Martha Stewart, the whole wheat is is my healthy adaptation:

Whole Wheat Pizza Dough
Ingredients:
1 tsp agave syrup
1 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
2 tsp olive oil and more for the bowl
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour, plus more for work surface

Method:
Pour 1 cup of warm water into a medium bowl; add sugar andsprinkle with yeast.  Let stand until foamy, 5 minutes.

fizzzzzz

Whisk oil & 1 tsp salt into the yeast mixture.  Add flour and stir with a wooden spoon until liquis is conporated.  Take off your rings! Andturn out onto a floured surface.  Knead until dough comes together in a ball; don't over knead it!  Transfer to a an oiled medium bowl and brush lightly with oil. 

Cover boil in plastic wrap and set in a warm place (window sill works great on a hot day) until the dough has doubled in size - about 45 minutes.  Best part: punch the down and recover; let it rise again for another 30 minutes.

Holy growing!!

PUNCH IT CHEWY!

Turn the dough out onto a floured surface.  Divide into 4 equal pieces and refrigerate until you're ready to use. 

Dough balls - you can even freeze left overs for about a month!

About an hour before you want to eat, get everything else ready to prepare dinner.  Cut all your veg, get your sauces ready, cheese grated, you have to move fast so being prepared is going to make the difference between light bubbly crusts or charred blackend crusts: your choice!

When you've got everything prepped, heat up your grill on high; clean the grill (you don't want any salmon skins stuck to the bottom of your pizzas).  Stretch out each one of the dough balls and lightly baste one side with olive oil and then sprinkle with salt.  Turn the grill way down to medium low.  Place the crusts, oil side down on the grill, and baste the tops.  Now keep watch on the crusts - when they start to bubble on the top, flip over to the other side.  When they are golden, bubbly and even slightly browned, remove from grill and then dress with your toppings. 

Get preppy!

Bubbling away - NOT burning!

Get the grill heated up again, but drop the heat to low or even turn the grill off when you're ready to put the pizzas on.  Close the lid and let the heat melt the cheese!

Add your toppings and get back in the BBQ

Spicy Margherita Pizza
Ingredients:
1 cup diced ripe tomatoes, drained
4 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 tsp dried chili peppers
3 tbsp olive oil
1 cup fresh mozzarella
handful of basil leaves, chopped coarse

Method:
In a saute pan, heat olive oil on medium heat; add garlic and chili peppers and cook until fragrant - about 3 minutes.  Careful not to burn the garlic!  Add tomatoes and cook until reduced; about 15 minutes.  Spread this sauce on two of the crusts and sprinkle with cheese.  Cook as described above.  When you take the pizzas off the grill, sprinkle with shredded basil and let rest for about 5 minutes before cutting into slices.

BBQ Hawaiian Chicken Pizza
Ingredients:
1 cup of shredded poached chicken + 2 tbsp spicy bbq sauce
1/3 cup diced green pepper
1/3 cup crushed pineapple pieces
1/3 cup red onion, finely diced
1 cup grated mozzarella
1/4 cup spicy bbq sauce
1/4 cup pizza sauce
1/2 jalapeno pepper, finely chopped

Method:
Combine 1/4 cup each of bbq sauce and pizza sauce.  Spread evenly on 2 crusts.  Add 2 tbsp bbq sauce to shredded chicken and mix.  Spread equal parts of all the toppings and then sprinkle with cheese.  Top with jalapeno.  Cook pizzas as described above.