Instead of grilling our traditional 4th of July menu of ribs, burgers, and hot dogs, we chose to try yet another version of a Pizza on the Grill! With the fresh basil growing in a large pot on the deck at its peak, the Queen Margherita Pizza was an easy choice.
The original pizza was created by an Italian baker from Naples in honor of Queen Margherita. The red, white, and green ingredients were his homage to the Italian flag. The simplicity of ingredients is very misleading. The crisp crust, the simple tomato sauce, creamy mozzarella slices, and fresh basil combine to make an amazing pizza.
You can prepare your own dough or, do as I did, purchase ready-made dough from your grocer. Publix had a refrigerated case full of lovely balls of dough just waiting for me!
To prepare the dough, let it come to room temperature and preheat the gas grill by setting all the burners on high for 10 minutes. Then reduce the heat to all burners to medium.
Sprinkle your work surface with 1/4 cup of either grits or yellow cornmeal. Place the dough in the middle of the surface. You can either roll out the dough with a rolling pin or stretch if with your hands. Your end result should be a 12-inch organically shaped piece of dough about 1/4 inch thick. No perfect circles or rectangles here. The unique shape of the dough is part of the perfection of your grilled pizza.
Drizzle or brush both sides of the dough with about 2 T. of oil. This will help crisp the crust while it grills. NOTE: holes in the crust are perfectly fine!
1/4 cup uncooked grits, cornmeal or polenta for rolling the dough
1 ball prepared pizza dough, at room temperature
2 T. olive oil
1 cup pizza sauce
1 large clove garlic, minced
8 oz. fresh mozzarella cheese, cut into 1/4 inch thick slices
10-15 fresh basil leaves
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Preheat the grill, roll out and shape the dough. Pick up the dough by the two corners closest to you and, in one motion, lay it down flat on the cooking grates from back to front. Think of putting a tablecloth on a table! Close the lid and grill for 3 minutes exactly. Do NOT open the grill. Check the crust and, if needed, continue grilling a few more minutes until the bottom of the crust is well marked and nicely browned.
Use tongs to transfer the crust to a pizza peel or an unrimmed baking sheet. Close the lid to the grill and flip the crust to reveal the grilled side.
Spread the entire surface with the sauce.
Next, sprinkle with the garlic.
Top with the cheese slices.
Turn off the middle burner and return the pizza to the grill. Cover and cook the pizza for 7 - 10 minutes until the cheese is melted and the crust is cooked through.
Remove from the grill, garnish with the basil, and season with salt and pepper. Slice and serve immediately.
Adapted from Pizza on the Grill.
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