What's the secret to a perfectly grilled pizza?
- Don’t work with cold dough. Make sure it’s room temperature before shaping it.
- Think outside the circle. Form raw dough into interesting shapes like diamonds, squares, or triangles.
- If using a pizza stone, be sure to preheat it with the oven, on the lowest shelf. This will ensure a crispy baked crust.
- Sprinkle cornmeal over a pizza pan or stone before adding the crust. This will help prevent the crust from sticking and also adds a nice crunch.
- For something different, skip the canned and jarred pizza sauces and make your own by combining drained canned diced tomatoes, dried basil and oregano, fresh chopped garlic, and hot pepper flakes. Add this sauce to the crust and let it cook as the pizza bakes.
- To prevent dough from sticking, be sure the grill grates are clean and generously brush the dough with olive oil or coat with olive oil cooking spray before grilling. Make sure all your toppings are precooked and ready, since there won’t be enough time on the grill for them to cook through.
- Preheat grill to medium. Stretch dough to about 1/4-inch thick and place on grill. Keep in mind that the dough will cook fast, in about 2 minutes or less. Use a heat resistant spatula or tongs to check that the grilled side down is not charring.
- Brush exposed side with some olive oil and then flip crust over. Add a thin layer of toppings (too thick and they won’t heat through), and cook for about 1 1/2 minutes more.
