How to Grill Pizza

The first time I heard of making pizza on a grill all I could think of was, why would anyone want to do that? Now that I’ve done it more than a few times I can think of several reasons, the first being who wants to heat up an oven to 450°F or higher on a hot summer day?

If you use a grill to make pizza, you can keep the heat outside where it belongs. Grills also better mimic a wood fired oven than your conventional indoor oven. Whether using charcoal or gas, the smoke from the grill will help give your pizza great flavor that you simply cannot get from a regular oven.

It’s also easy! No, the pizza dough does not fall through the grill grates. Assuming you’ve properly heated the grill, your dough will form a lovely lightly browned crust.

The trick is that you cook the plain dough first, on one side, on the grill. Then remove it, flip it, brush the grilled side with sauce and toppings, and return the pizza to the grill for final cooking.

This is a quick how-to on the grilling steps. I’m assuming that you already have pizza dough ready to go, but if not, we have a great recipe here on our homemade pizza post.

Here’s a suggestion. Make a double batch of the dough, then divide it, wrap it in plastic and freeze it. Then, when you want pizza for dinner, take the dough out of the freezer and put it into the fridge before you go to work, and when you come home take it out of the fridge and put the dough on the counter to warm while you heat up the grill.

How to grill Pizza

Make pizza dough from scratch using our pizza dough recipe. Alternatively, you may be able to find prepared pizza dough, in the frozen foods section, at your local supermarket.

INGREDIENTS

• Pizza dough (if using our pizza dough recipe note that it makes enough dough for 2 pizzas)
• Olive oil
• Standard toppings of tomato sauce, herbs, cheese (mozzarella is the best), and maybe some thinly sliced onions, tomatoes, mushrooms, or pepperoni
• Some flour or corn meal for dusting the cookie sheet or pizza peel

METHOD

1 Make the pizza dough or use prepared pizza dough.

2 Prepare the grill for high direct heat. Prepare a small bowl with olive oil for greasing the grill grates and for brushing the pizza. Prepare the toppings so they are ready to go on the pizza—tomato sauce, cheese, and anything else you wish.

3 Shape the pizza dough by flattening it with your hands on a slightly floured surface. Either use your fingers to stretch the dough out, or hold up the edges of the dough with your fingers, letting the dough hang and stretch, while working around the edges of the dough.

 

Once you've stretched the dough, let it sit for 5 minutes and then push out the edges with your fingers again, until you have a nice round shape, about 12-inches in diameter. Do not make a raised rim, it will interfere with the grilling process.

 

Note that if you are preparing the pizza dough for a party, you can make several pizza dough rounds, stack them separated by parchment paper, and keep them in the refrigerator for up to two hours before cooking.

4 Once the grill is hot (you can hold your hands an inch over the grates for no more than 2 seconds), dip a tightly folded up paper towel in olive oil and use tongs to wipe the grill grates. Then place a pizza dough round on a lightly floured (or you can use cornmeal) rimless cookie sheet (or pizza peel if you have one). Let the dough slide off the cookie sheet onto the hot grill grates. Close the lid of the grill and let cook for 2 minutes.

 

5 After 2 minutes, open the grill and check underneath the dough to see if it is getting browned. If it is on one side, but not another, use a spatula or tongs to rotate the dough 90 degrees and cook for another minute. If it is not beginning to brown, cover the grill and continue to cook a minute at a time until the bottom has begun to brown. It should only take a couple minutes if you have a hot grill. The top of the pizza dough will start bubbling up with air pockets.

 

6 Once the pizza dough has browned lightly on one side, use your cookie sheet or pizza peel to remove it from the grill. Use a spatula to flip the dough over so that the grilled side is now up. Keep the grill covered so it retains its heat for the next step.

 

7 Paint the grilled surface of the pizza with a little olive oil, then cover with 1 ladle of sauce – no more, or you'll end up with a soggy pizza. Sprinkle on your toppings, ending with Mozarella cheese (if using), and if using meat, put that over the cheese. Remember to go light on the toppings, or your pizza will be heavy and soggy.

 

8 Slide the topped pizza back onto the grill. If you are using a gas grill, reduce the heat. If working with a charcoal grill, close the vents on the cover almost all the way. Close the lid and cook for 2-3 minutes more, or until the bottom begins to char and the cheese is bubbly. Pull off the grate with a spatula onto a cutting board or other flat surface and let rest for a couple minutes before cutting into slices.

Slice and serve!

Chandelier Planter Tutorial

Materials:

• Chandelier (try Craigs List, Ebay, thrift stores, yard sales)
• Terra cotta pots and saucers (The same number as the “arms” of your chandelier. Ours all had 5.) Plastic pots would also work. Get creative! Try your own spin!
• Outdoor-rated spray paint
• Waterproof glue: Elmer’s Probond is perfect for gluing porous (pots) to metal (chandelier)
• Plumber’s epoxy putty – I used this to help create an elevation for draining (optional)
• Flowers, plants
• Moisture Control Potting Mix
• “S” hook for hanging (and the chain that comes with the chandelier if needed)

Tools:

• Wire cutters
• Garden trowel

1. Slide off the plastic ‘candle’ holders and remove all electrical/wiring from the chandelier using the wire cutters.

2. Attach terra cotta saucers using epoxy putty and glue. The epoxy putty helped to keep the things in place since clamping isn’t possible as well as raise the pot a bit for draining.

Repeat for attaching the pots. I let the glue dry 1-2 hours before spray painting and allowed it to cure several days before planting.

3. Spray paint the entire thing (even your chain if you’ll be using it). I found that hanging the chandelier from a low tree branch to be the easiest spray painting process (especially if the chandelier’s shape doesn’t sit level) but you could also do a 2-step process (position upside down on drop cloth/cardboard, spray paint, dry, flip and the spray from top and let dry). Some parts of the chandelier’s design may also be removable (simply unscrew) and can be taken apart for spray painting if needed. Wear a mask if you’re working under poorly ventilated conditions or breezy weather and eye protection.

4. Dry. Since I worked in advance, the chandeliers had several days to dry/cure. The glue did expand and become visible. And a little scratching of the paint happened in places as well. But as we say around here, “imperfection adds character” and those things are not something you pick out and focus on when the project is complete (any imperfections stand out in the  completed project below?… nope!) You could lightly sand and spray a base primer on your chandelier as well.

5. Plant! We had several color coordinated flower options on hand as well as some ivy and used Miracle-Gro Moisture Control Potting Soil – perfect for container gardens. I set up the ‘planting station’ on our barn patio to escape the windy conditions.

Even the little ones had fun planting flowers for mom in little watering cans from the dollar store…

6. Water according to plant instructions. NOTE: The Miracle-GroMoisture Control Potting Mix protects against over & under watering. Virtually fool-proof if you do not possess a green thumb. Be sure to water your plants daily!

Note: My chandelier planter is hanging from a plant hook on our patio. Sunlight and watering are not an issue. The design of some of the chandeliers posted above also allow for table top display. I only ‘display’ my chandelier planter like a ‘chandelier’ on our covered patio as party decorating (a few hours then back to the hook). Also, drainage is limited due to the glue however, I water daily and the Miracle Gro Moisture Control Potting Soil contributes to a healthy balance.

How To Make Stepping Stones – With a Cake Pan

You don’t need a fancy schmancy mold to make garden stepping stones; all you need is a non-stick cake pan! And you won’t even ruin the pan!

I stumbled on a new – and EASIER way to make mosaic stepping stones; it’s called the indirect method and it involves contact paper. I think these would make awesome favors or gifts for a garden wedding. Just get your maids together on a Saturday afternoon and have a stepping stone party. They’re inexpensive to make – and they don’t require much skill.

You will need:

• Round non-stick cake pan (You could also use a heart-shaped pan)
• Vaseline
• Contact paper
• Old plates or saucers that you don’t need (I got mine at the thrift store)
• Glass gems
• sea glass (optional)
• concrete
• marine varnish
• Mosaic Glass Cutter (Optional. I did not use of of these, but if you want more precise cuts, this is the way to go.)
• chicken wire or other type of wire mesh
• safety glasses
• rubber gloves
• dust mask
• hammer
• bucket
• trowel
• water

Put your safety glasses on. Place a plate or saucer inside a cloth bag or cover with an old sheet or towel, and smash it with a hammer. If you have a mosaic glass cutter, use it instead.

 

Repeat until you have all the pieces you need. You’ll probably want a variety of sizes, as shown here.

Place your cake pan on your contact paper, and trace around it.

Cut out the contact paper circle. Remove backing and place inside pan sticky side up. Add your mosaic pieces to the contact paper with the desired design facing down. Press each piece down so it is firmly stuck to the contact paper. Leave enough space between the pieces so that the cement can fill the spaces in between – but don’t leave too much room. (When I make my next stepping stone, I will move the pieces a bit closer together.)

Carefully lift the piece of contact paper and view your design. (This is the back of my design.)

If you are happy with your design, place the design back into the pan with the sticky side up. Head outdoors, put on your dust mask and mix up your concrete according to the instructions on the bag. It will be the consistency of porridge when it’s ready.

Meantime, cut a square piece of chicken wire or wire mesh to fit inside the stepping stone. This will help to support it. Also, line the inside rim of your cake pan with Vaseline for easy releasing.

Don your rubber gloves and spoon some concrete into your cake pan.

Spread so it evenly covers your design, about an inch thick.

Place your piece of wire mesh onto the wet concrete.

Spread another one inch layer of concrete over the wire.

Let sit for two days. (I set mine in the shed.) When it’s ready, turn it over and tap on the back of the cake pan. It should release easily. Slowly remove contact paper.

If there are holes,  you can fill them with cement. You can use sand paper to smooth grooves in the cement. I took a wet sponge and cleaned the entire area after removing the contact paper, then I varnished it with marine varnish.

HOMEMADE PET FOOD

I show my affection to friends and family oftentimes through food.   Since I very much consider our dogs to be members of our little family, I do make them special food treats from time to time.  The recipe is affordable, especially if you buy the ingredients on sale, and it’s so incredibly easy to prepare.   Seriously, it took me about 5 minutes to prepare the dish, start to finish.

Oh, and we (obviously) made this recipe is for our dogs, but it’s perfectly okay for cats, too!

Be sure to scroll below to enter the contest!

Scrambled Eggs with Salmon and Apple

Ingredients:

1 dozen eggs

1 apple, diced or 3-4 carrots, diced

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 cans (14.75 ounces each) wild pink Alaskan salmon or jack mackerel

Preparation:

1.  Crack all the eggs into a large bowl.  Using a fork, beat the eggs well.

2.  Add the apples and mix gently together.

3.  Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-low heat.

4.  Add the egg mixture, stirring it as the eggs cook.

5.  Drain the salmon.

6.  Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the salmon.

This recipe makes several cups of food and the book recommends feeding 1/4 cup twice a day to a medium-size cat or 1 cup twice a day to a medium-size dog.   For my small dogs, I normally mix just 1/4 cup of this food (or any wet food) with their dry food.  Therefore,  unless you feed this dog food recipe to your dogs within 3-4 days, you can freeze any extra food and thaw it out a few days before serving.

I think I will try this recipe next (a meatloaf recipe)!