Raise your hand all you pizza lovers out there! I don’t know about you, but pizza is at the top of my list of favorite foods. I always have to get pizza if I go on a trip somewhere that is known for their pizza, like New York, or Chicago. Okay, so I really just try to find good pizza places everywhere I travel. There is just something about cheese melted on that hot, cooked dough that is so delicious… flat bread, deep dish, sour dough… I love it all! And because I love pizza so much, I thought it would be a good investment to learn how to make delicious pizza at home. If you’ve been thinking about getting into pizza making too, look no further because this recipe is super easy!

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My love for pizza started as a kid when we lived in Naples, Italy (shout out to all my Navy-brat brothers and sisters out there and thank you to all who serve our country!). I loved going down to our local pizzeria and watching the Italians bake a fresh pie. It really was an art, the way they stretched out the dough, swirled on the fresh tomato sauce, then added the toppings with fresh buffalo mozzarella, and then threw it in the back of a stone oven to cook to perfection. My favorite was the Margherita pizza with a hot pepper olive oil swirl on top… After you’ve tasted those delicious, authentic pizzas you will definitely want to try to seek them out wherever you can. Or is that just me?

Whenever I travel to big cities, I love it when I can find authentic Italian pizza cooked in a stone oven. Speaking of, on our last trip to New York City we happened upon Song’e Napule for dinner one night and it was AMAZING! The place is owned and run by Italians and they are a place that really treats you like family. Their pizza was like stepping back in time to my childhood, and to top it all off, they import their buffalo mozzarella from Naples! If you’re ever in the area, I highly recommend you stop in for a pie.

My obsession with home made, grilled pizza began about eleven years ago back when I was in law school. My friend and colleague, Allison, invited me over to her apartment to try out a new pizza recipe on her gas grill. They turned out great, and it was so easy to do; I knew that this was something I had to keep doing and try to perfect.

You can find the recipe for the BEST  PIZZA DOUGH EVER HERE from 101 Cookbooks. 

Pizzas are always a crowd pleaser, and whipping up a delicious, gourmet pizza at home is something I believe everyone should have the ability to do. It really is super easy if you have all the right tools in your kitchen. And there are a lot of modifications that you can do too if you don’t have all the tools. Like a pizza stone, for instance. My husband and I used to grill our pizzas on tinfoil on a gas grill, but over the years we have graduated from the gas grill to cooking our pizzas on a stone in a Big Green Egg.

Although I have tried other dough recipes, I keep going back to THIS RECIPE for the Best Pizza Dough Ever. I have modified it a little over the years by substituting at least 1/2 cup of flour for stone ground corn meal for extra crunch, but here are the basics for making a delicious pizza on any grill.

Here are the basics for making a delicious pizza on any grill:

First, you need to make the dough. I use my Kitchenaid Mixer, but if you don’t have one yet hands always work too! Figure out what kind of toppings you want and prepare those beforehand so you can just throw your pie together when you’re ready to cook. I love to caramelize onions to put on my pizza and those take some time to make if you cook them low and slow like I do.

When it comes to cheeses I like to use my favorite, Cabot Extra Sharp White Cheddar, but sometimes I use a part skim mozzarella; or when I feel like being as authentic as possible, I use sliced pieces of a mozzarella ball as the cheese topping.

Once you have the dough and toppings ready to go, you roll out your dough with a rolling-pin. If you’re grilling it on a regular gas grill, roll it out on some cornmeal, or flour on tinfoil (be sure to get the extra wide tinfoil). If you’re using a pizza stone on the Big Green Egg, roll it out on cornmeal on parchment paper. After rolling it out to your desired thickness (I prefer a thin crust), add a thin layer of your base sauce (tomato sauce, pesto, alfredo, etc.).

Then it is time to add the rest of your toppings! I usually start all of my pizzas with a big pile of spinach, just for some added nutrition. All the spinach cooks down, so it doesn’t end up seeming like you threw a whole salad on your pizza.

After that, add the rest of your toppings! This pizza had grilled chicken, sautéed onions, garlic, fresh Roma tomatoes from my garden, basil, and mozzarella from a log/ball. I always like to add fresh ground black pepper and some McCormick Italian Seasoning (from the grinder) before it is grilled as well.

Once everything is assembled, it is time to put it on the grill! If you’re grilling on the Big Green Egg (this is when I hand the pizza off to Will), get your grill to around 500-600 degrees, and prep your preheated stone with some cornmeal so the pizza doesn’t stick to the stone.

Next, put your pizza on the grill! Cook for approximately 2-3 minutes, and once the dough is set, pull the parchment paper out from under the pizza. Continue to monitor the pizza and cook between 7 and 11 minutes total depending on the size of your pizza and the temperature of your grill. If you need to rotate the pizza around to ensure an even cook, do so.

If you’re cooking on a gas grill, keep the pizza on the tinfoil until it is done. Rotate the pizza around while you cook it by pulling on the tinfoil with an oven mitt, or grill glove so the pizza cooks evenly.

Once the pizza is done, pull it off, let it cool for a few minutes, cut, and enjoy!!!

SOME OF MY FAVORITE TOPPINGS:

♥ Pesto (find my recipe HERE)

♥ Caramelized Onions

♥ Grilled Chicken in Peruvian Gold Grilling Sauce

♥ Mushrooms

♥ Pineapple + Canadian Bacon

♥ Hot Pepper Honey (I first tried honey on pizza during a trip to Banff and it really is to die for!)

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This dough recipe makes such amazing pizza it’s hard to stray from, but I still need to experiment with deep dish and trying some gluten free pizza dough recipes.

What is your favorite kind of pizza to make? Leave me a comment and let me know!