Barbecued Pizza

Nothing says summer like a barbecue. Change up the classic BBQ fare and have a create-your-own pizza night. Your guests will love you for it, and you'll get to enjoy the local tomatoes and peppers in season! 

You can find ready-made pizza dough at your local grocery store, or you can make your own. (It's not that hard. Trust me!) A beautiful selection of vegetables, herbs, cheeses and meats will get the creative juices flowing!

The Necessities

• Pizza dough, divided and shaped into mini mounds
• Pizza sauce (a can of crushed tomatoes + 1 teaspoon salt + dried basil and oregano)
• Barbecue sauce
• Olive oil
• Salt, Pepper, & Spices
• Fresh herbs: basil, oregano, cilantro
• Cheeses: Mozzarella, Feta, Parmesan
• Veggies: Tomatoes, Peppers, Onions...anything fresh and in season!
• Meats: Pepperoni, Ham, Chicken, Prosciutto 

The Tools

• Barbecue
• Pizza stone
• Pizza peel (or a cookie sheet can work)
• Pizza cutter
• Parchment Paper

The Creating!

1. Turn your BBQ on high heat, and place your pizza stone directly on the rack and close. Heat that baby up.
2. Cut parchment paper out to fit your mini pizzas, a couple inches larger so you can pick it up and place it on the peel. Place a dough ball in the middle of each parchment paper and gently push it out to be a circle. (You can have your guests do this part, or have it ready to go for them.)
3. Add sauce, seasonings, spices, and toppings!
4. Once the pizzas are made, slide them onto the peel , then onto the hot stone, keeping them on the parchment paper. Cook a few minutes, then rotate the stone and cook another few minutes. Check the crust - it chars quickly! You may want to turn the flames down.
5. Once they're ready, take them out, slice them up, and enjoy! If you want to serve it up NY style, do what the pizza chefs in Brooklyn do: top with a bit of fresh mozzarella and fresh basil, then add a drizzle of local olive oil!

And just in case you want to try your hand at homemade pizza dough...

Pizza Dough Ingredients

• 4 cups of flour
• 2.5 cups iced water
• 2 teaspoons instant yeast
• 1 teaspoon salt 
• 4 oiled plastic containers with lids

Pizza Dough Steps

1. Mix 3 cups flour, yeast, and salt in bowl. (A stand mixer with a dough attachment works great if you have it!) Add 2.5 cups of your iced water (minus the ice). Mix for a minute or so--it should be good and wet--then cover and let rest for 20 minutes.
2. Turn mixer on low and mix for 3 minutes. Start adding in the remaining cup of flour, 1/4 cup at a time, mixing well in between each addition until the dough just starts to pull away from the side. If you find you've added too much flour, just add a few teaspoons of ice water again. Mix for another few minutes. Let rest for 15 minutes.
3. Take your dough out and place it on a floured surface. Knead it, then shape your dough into mounds. This recipe easily makes two large pizzas, or you could make four (or more) mini pizzas out of it.
4. Place your mounds into the oiled plastic containers. Let rest for another 15 minutes, then put in the fridge. Take out 2 hours before you need it so the dough can rise.