Think You Can’t Make Pizza on a Barbeque Grill? Think Again
This recipe is really simple, and easy to customize—you can use different types of barbeque sauces, adjust the size of the pizza, and add other yummy things. And for the vegetarians who won’t want chicken on the pizza—well, if your chef is as nice as I am, your griller will be happy to make yours veggie.
Now down to making the pizza!
Grilling with Rich BBQ Chicken Grilled Pizza Recipe
The Crust
Ingredients
| Qty | Unit | Ingredient |
|---|---|---|
| 1 1/2 | cups | warm water 100 to 110 degrees |
| 1 | (1/4 ounce) | packet active dry yeast |
| 5 | cups | all-purpose flour, plus extra as needed |
| 1 1/2 | tsp. | fine sea salt |
| 12 | tsp. | grated parmesan cheese |
| 6 | tsp. | garlic powder |
| 2 | tsp. | olive oil (for drizzling) |
The Toppings
Ingredients
| Qty | Unit | Ingredient |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | cup | your favorite BBQ sauce |
| 1 | red onion, sliced into rings | |
| 3 | grilled boneless chicken breasts which have been diced into 1-inch pieces | |
| 2 | cups | grated smoked Gouda cheese |
The Vital Elements in Grilling with Rich’s Famous BBQ Chicken Pizza
a) The temperature of the grill
b) The all-important ingredients that you put on the pizza;
c) The amount of oil that you put on both the pizza dough and also the grill grate; and, most importantly…
d) The company that you share the food with!
Putting It All Together
The first thing you have to tackle is whether or not you want to make your dough from scratch or decide if you want to buy pre-made pizza dough.
If you’re like me, and you enjoy a challenge, you will make it from scratch (I will outline the steps and offer advice). But if you don’t have the time, you can buy pizza dough at any major supermarket.
If you’re making your own dough, I recommend you make it the day before. Here is my simple recipe for amazing pizza dough. Dissolve the yeast in the water. In a separate bowl, mix the flour and salt; stir in the yeast mixture and, using a mixer with a dough hook, mix until a soft dough forms. If it’s too sticky; add more flour, 1 tablespoon at a time. I usually end up adding 3 or 4 tablespoons.
Now you are ready to knead! With floured hands, place the dough on a floured surface; knead by pushing with the heels of your hands and then folding; repeat. I suggest that you knead the dough for about 8 – 10 minutes, so that you will be able to stretch it out to the proper size. It is kind of boring, but with some music and good company, time will fly by.
Once the 10 minutes are up, put the dough in a bowl, cover with a damp towel or plastic wrap, and place in warm, draft-free place for about 2 hours, until the dough has doubled in size. Punch it down, and you are ready to proceed.
When it’s the time to roll out your dough, make sure you have enough counter space. With a rolling pin, roll it really thin, about 1/4-inch thick. If you want to make individual pies for everyone, now is the time to cut your dough. A good personal size is about 6 inches in diameter. If you are making one huge pie, be sure to check your grill to make sure that it will fit. I have made this recipe for 4 years now, and I always find it difficult to flip a large pizza crust on the grill, so I highly suggest individual pies, which your guests can easily customize. This is the time that I would suggest adding the grated Parmesan cheese and garlic powder.
Another issue that many people encounter while grilling pizza is that the crust sometimes sticks to the grill. The best way to avoid this is to use enough oil on the grill and on the crust.
Once the dough is rolled out using a brush, add a generous amount of oil and start heating your grill. Temperature is very important. But before lighting the grill, brush the grill with plain vegetable oil. Don’t be afraid—you want the grill to be as close to nonstick as possible—otherwise when you go to flip your pizza the dough will stick—not good. Get the grill up to about 300 degrees and keep all the burners on a medium flame, as you want to make sure that you will be baking the crust evenly.
When moving your crust from the nice warm kitchen to the cold outdoors, make sure that you have an extra pair of hands and also clear a path to your grill so that there are no chairs, electric cords, etc. in your way to the grill.
Once you have successfully transferred the dough to the grill from the kitchen, close the lid on your grill, step back, and occasionally check on it. You will know when the dough is ready to be flipped when you start to see bubbles on the top layer of the crust, which you will want to pop. But don’t. When the bottom of the crust is baked, about 10 -15 minutes in, it’s time to flip the pizza crust. To easily flip the crust, make sure that the extra pair of hands that helped you move the dough from the kitchen to the grill is back helping you. Take the corners of the crust closest to you and pull the end back over the end farthest from you; then take the corners of that dough and flip it so that it is now close to you. After you have successfully flipped your crust bake it another 10 minutes or so.
About half way through baking the pizza crust once it has been flipped, it is now the time to add all your toppings. Now close the lid to your grill and sit back for about 5 minutes until the cheese is golden brown and the sauce is bubbling. Remove your pizza using a baker’s peel, and serve it nice and hot to your friends!
[Top pic via Flickr - Roger Mommaerts. All in article art copyrighted and used with permission from Richard Wachtel]
