There’s no doubt that the better the ingredients, the better your meal will taste. This grilled pizza recipe is a perfect example of that.
We’re happy to introduce you to our friends and this post’s sponsor, Grande Cheese. They have a few locations around the Greater Toronto Area and they offer many amazing products.
A lot more than cheese…
Don’t let the “cheese” in Grande Cheese fool you! Although they offer a spectacular variety of cheeses, they also offer many other specialty products.
Just about everything we used for today’s pizzas is from Grande Cheese . Yup… the pizza dough, olive oil, tomato sauce, mozzarella, shaved and grated parmigiano reggiano, sun-dried tomatoes, and prosciutto.
At Grande Cheese you can also get fresh baked pizza, a perfectly pulled espresso and many unique products that are imported from Italy.
This place is like a toy store for cheese-lovers and cooks. And if you love cheese like I do, then you’ll be drooling at first sniff. 🙂
Baked at home just like at the pizzeria.
We’ve made pizza with this technique many times, but it never fails to impress and please us! If you have a a decent-sized BBQ at home, pick up a pizza stone and you’ll be good to go!
I’ve seen a few celebrity chefs grill pizza without the stone, but I think that would be a bit too difficult.
The pizza stone and hot BBQ offer perfect conditions for making pizzeria-style pizza. The hot stone ensures that you get a nicely toasted crust, just like at the pizzeria, and by keeping the lid closed on the BBQ all your toppings are cooked perfectly by the time the crust is ready.
Almost from scratch…as much as time allowed.
We often talk about how family life can get busy and how challenging it can be to balance family activities, tasks and events, while still serving up home-cooked meals.
When I have time, I love making meals completely from scratch. It’s satisfying. Since that’s not always an option, I improvise. For this pizza, I was in a hurry, so both the dough and the sauce were store-bought. I’m ok with that.
The key to still being able to serve-up delicious food is to buy quality ingredients. Smaller specialty shops and farmer’s markets often carry products made in small batches and with quality ingredients. Grande Cheese is a perfect example. Molte grazie!
The next time you’re in the mood to cook, visit and support a local business, buy quality ingredients, and make something delicious so you can be sure to eat well, friends!
Prepared on a stone on the BBQ, this grilled prosciutto and sun-dried tomato pizza will be sure to satisfy your pizzeria cravings without calling your pizza delivery service.
Course: Appetizer, Main, Main Course
Cuisine: American, Canadian, Italian
Servings: 3generous personal sized pizzas
Ingredients
1quality pizza dough
3pinchesflaked sea salt
3tspextra virgin olive oil
3/4cupsquality tomato sauce
1 1/2cupsshredded mozzarella
3tbspgrated parmigiano reggiano
1/2cuproughly chopped sun-dried tomatoes
225g (8 oz)quality prosciutto, sliced thin
15-20fresh basil leaves
1/3cupshaved parmigiano reggiano
cornmeal for the pizza peel and the pizza stone (to avoid sticking)
Instructions
On a BBQ with 4 burners, keep the middle two burners set to low and heat the BBQ to 500 ºF. Sounds hot, but trust us!
Place the stone on the middle of the BBQ grates and close the lid to heat up the stone.
Lightly dust the counter surface with flour and place a third of the dough ball (cut the dough in three) on the counter.
Using a rolling pin, roll out the dough ball into a circle about 9 inches in diameter.
Sprinkle about 1 tbsp of cornmeal on a pizza peel.
Place the rolled out pizza dough on the pizza peel and give the peel a little shake to make sure it's lose.
Drizzle 1 tsp of olive oil over the pizza dough and brush over the dough.
Sprinkle a pinch of flaked sea salt over the dough. Note, the prosciutto and cheeses are salty, so be cautious not to add too much.
Spread 1/4 cup of the pizza sauce evenly over the dough using a large spoon.
Spread 1/2 cup of shredded mozzarella evenly over the tomato sauce.
Sprinkle 1 tbsp grated parmigiano reggiano over the mozzarella.
Place about a third of the sun-dried tomatoes on the dough.
Shred and place pieces of prosciutto on the dough.
Sprinkle about 1 tbsp of cornmeal over the hot stone (be careful, it’s hot!)
Transfer the pizza from the peel to the hot stone on the BBQ. (Tip: Give the pizza peel a little shake back and forth (outside to avoid a mess) to loosen up the dough before transferring).
Close the lid and bake.
Open the lid after about the first 5 minutes and rotate (using the pizza peel or a large metal spatula) the pizza on the stone 180 degrees to ensure even baking. Close the lid.
Repeat the last step about every 3 minutes.
After 12 to 15 minutes of baking, use the pizza peel to lift an edge of the pizza to check for doneness (you should see a crisp golden crust with toasted edges).
Using the peel, remove the pizza to a cutting board, cut and serve hot.
Repeat the last few steps for the second and third pieces of dough.
Recipe Notes
Make sure you have all cutups ready before you start assembling the pizzas. If the dough and toppings sit on the peel for too long, the dough will become soggy, and it'll be very difficult to transfer.
The thickness of the dough once it's rolled out is personal preference. Make two thicker pizzas, or four smaller thin crust pizzas if you prefer.
BBQs hold heat differently, so make sure to check the doneness every few minutes to avoid overcooking the dough.
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