Eric Colburn, PLS

Now that the weekend is here I would like to go a little off course (And why not? You’ve all worked very hard this week and have earned a little rest and relaxation with your family) and make a recommendation for a little weekend good living – Grilled Pizza!

There is a little prep work required upfront but the results will amaze you. You can certainly make your own pizza dough, or it can be purchased at your local market. Stretch it out to the size you like (it doesn’t have to be perfectly shaped) with it being fairly thin, but not so thin that it will burn or that toppings will fall though it. Place the stretched dough on the grill and cook it until the bottom is nicely browned to your liking. Flip the dough over, brush with olive oil and add your toppings. Continue grilling until the bottom is done and your toppings have heated up nicely. Remove and eat!

You can add whatever toppings, sauces and herbs you like but they have to be ready before the dough hits the grill. You can pre-grill some vegetables like onions, peppers, mushrooms -whatever you like, just have it ready to go. Also, shred any cheeses beforehand that you want to add to your grilled pizza. Mostly, think outside the box (some pun intended) and experiment with different cheeses, vegetables and meats that you wouldn’t normally get with your usual take-out pizza. If you can grill it, it will probably be good on a grilled pizza.

Compared to your usual take-out sauce and cheese laden pizza, I think you will find home made grilled pizza’s can be a more healthful alternative. Don’t be afraid to try different flavors beyond the usual Italian style pizzas (although they great too).

Here are a few grilled pizza ideas from the Grilled Pizzas and Piadinas book pictured above.

• Thai pizza
• Gamberian Pizza (with shrimp and pesto)
• Morrocan pizza (with chicken and a sweet curry glaze).

Here’s a few links to other blogs that had grilled pizza recipes that I found interesting:

• Step by step instructions for making grilled pizzas
• saramcmartin
• honeymuffin
• indianfoodsco
• cookingquest
• zarajspook
• ihavenothingtotalkabout
• wikipedia.org/wiki/Grilled_pizza

Now I simply must go eat – I’m so hungry just thinking about grilled pizzas!

07-31-08 fixed links noted above.