Monday, August 27, 2007

pizza on the grill

(tofu pizza top, cheese pizza bottom)


Pizza or bread dough (it was way too hot to make dough this weekend so I bought some. It really WAS the first time I bought it. You know what, it wasn’t bad AT ALL – got it at Whole Foods)
Tomatoes (I used heirloom and a variety of grape and cherry tomatoes. Purple, red, orange, yellow, green) - washed
Olive oil
Sea salt
Pepper
Herbs of your choice
Cheese of your choice (I used parm and gouda and muenster for my pop’s pizza) and I used
TOFU (for my pizza)
Mushrooms (I bought a pack of variety mushrooms. Oyster, shiitake, etc) -- cleaned
Artichoke hearts (I used canned and didn’t cook them with the tomatoes. If you used frozen, I would cook them)
Onions (I used a Vidalia)
Corn meal (all I had some some polenta and I used that)
Spray oil for the grill grates

I made little rounds (well none of them actually turned out ROUND) of dough and placed them in some corn meal. I let them rise a bit. (be sure you put a tiny bit of olive oil on BOTH sides of the dough BEFORE you place one side down in the cornmeal. This will also help prevent sticking on the grill)

In the meantime, line a baking sheet or cookie sheet with foil. Place some sliced tomatoes and grape/cherry tomatoes (if the cherry tomatoes were larger, I cut them in half. If they were small, I left them whole) on the sheet. Slice up some onion and place it on the sheet too along with the cleaned mushrooms. If you have any other vegetables lying around, throw them on the sheet too. Sprinkle liberally with sea salt (really go out and make the investment. Table salt WILL NOT do. It won’t) and pepper. Use any herbs that strike your fancy as well. Drizzle some (GOOD) olive oil (it’s up to you how much) over vegetables. Place under broiler for about 5 to 8 minutes. Turn or stir the vegetables once or twice so nothing gets burned. Let cool a bit then pour into a large bowl and stir.

Toss the little dough rounds onto your grill (I have a charcoal one, not gas. So I let the coals – I ONLY use lump/hardwood charcoal- burn down and get white hot. Remember to oil those grates!!!) CORN MEAL SIDE UP. Cook for a few minutes until you have some char marks – BUT DO NOT burn. Really they shouldn’t be on there MORE than five minutes. I also put them around the edges of the grill – in the indirect heat. Take them inside (unless you have a work surface outside). Place corn meal side down and on the side you cooked a bit which is UP now), place a tiny bit of parm (if you are using cheese). Then liberally place your tomato mixture. Top with some shredded cheese of your choice OR tofu (I freeze it for a couple of weeks, then defrost it. It takes on a chewy consistency). Bring back out to the grill and place corn meal side down. Cover grill and let cook for about five minutes (don’t try to move them before five minutes because they’ll stick. After about five minutes check the doneness. If they need more time, let them sit there. If not REMOVE AND ENJOY!

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