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Posted on Fri, Jul 16, 2010 : 4:33 a.m.

Peggy Lampman's Friday dinnerFeed: Grilled Pizza with Fresh Mozzarella and Tomatoes

By Peggy Lampman

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Grilled Pizza with Tomatoes and Fresh Mozzarella

Peggy Lampman | Contributor

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Grilling a pizza is the perfect way to end a week—you can combine all of the leftovers you've accumulated throughout the week into a delicious dinner. It may even be quicker to grill a pizza yourself than to order one for delivery. It's certainly healthier!


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Have all of your ingredients mise en place (nearby—close to the grill) before beginning.

This particular pie is a locavore's dream. Most groceries stock Michigan-made Tseo's frozen pizza dough in their freezer section, the S. Serra brand or Zingerman's would be great choices for the mozzarella, and locally grown tomatoes and fresh basil are popping up at markets across town.

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Move pizza around over flame to ensure even grilling.

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Flip & decorate pizza on grilled side while other side finishes grilling.

Ingredients

1 pizza dough ball, thawed if frozen (I prefer Tseo’s—it’s delish and locally
made)
Flour for dusting
2-3 medium-sized ripe tomatoes, thinly sliced (assorted varieties of locally grown summer tomatoes are tastiest)
1/3 cup packed fresh basil leaves, torn
6-8 ounces fresh mozzarella (in liquid), drained and thinly sliced
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon minced garlic

Directions

1. On a large cutting board lightly dusted with flour, prepare and stretch the thawed dough. Following package instructions, after dough “rests” about 20 minutes, stretch into a large 10-12-inch oval, circle, or rectangle. (I prefer a a thin crust, so I stretch it thin—slightly transparent in the center. You may also lightly brush the dough with olive oil at this point, if you enjoy a rich-flavored crust.)
2. Oil and clean grill grates. If you are using a gas grill, turn one side to low and keep the other side on medium-high. If you are using a charcoal grill, build the coals higher on one side so that there is a hot side and a cooler side.
3. Place sliced tomatoes in a bowl and lightly season with kosher salt and freshly ground pepper. Place torn basil and sliced mozzarella in additional separate bowls. Place bowls in an area close to your grill for easy, last-minute assembly. Combine olive oil and garlic.
4. Gently lift the dough by the edges and drape it on the medium-hot side of the grill. Grill pizza until golden brown on bottom side, about 3-5 minutes depending on heat of the flame. You may need to move the pizza around for even grilling.
5. Using tongs, flip the crust over and move crust to the cooler section of the grill. Immediately brush the grilled side of the dough (that is now facing up) with garlic-oil, then decorate with the cheese, tomato slices, and basil. Close the grill cover and allow cheese to melt, 2-4 minutes. With a large spatula and guiding hand, remove cooked pizza from grill. Let sit a minute or two, then slice.

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Comments

EngineeringMom

Fri, Jul 16, 2010 : 2:59 p.m.

Peggy, this sounds great. We just got back from vacation and I've been catching up on your column. Ssssooooo many yummy things to try. Thanks for expanding my culinary horizon!

Peggy Lampman

Fri, Jul 16, 2010 : 2:35 p.m.

Jessica & Mary: Thanks for the comments! Grilling pizza is super easy once you combat your fear of grilling raw dough! Made-from-scratch pizza dough would be superb! Peggy

Mary Bilyeu

Fri, Jul 16, 2010 : 10:01 a.m.

I love grilled pizza! But I'm surprised by how many people still think the notion is odd. Good for you, showing 'em how it's done!