By Chef Alli
How to Grill a Pizza Crust
Ingredients
1 softball-size round of pizza dough, room temperature
yellow cornmeal combined with 1 Tbs. all-purpose flour
olive oil for brushing the parchment paper and dough
vegetable or canola oil for brushing the grill grates to keep your dough from sticking
Instructions
Sprinkle a large, clean work surface with the cornmeal/flour mixture. Using your hands, gently stretch out the ball of dough, forming it into a small (rather lumpy) rectangle. Let it rest for five minutes.
Preheat the grill to medium high. Once the grates are hot, clean them to remove any charred particles from previous cooking; liberally oil the grates, taking care not to let it drip down into the grill too much to prevent flare ups that can burn your pizza crust as you grill it.
Use a rolling pin to roll the dough into a large rectangle or oval approximately 8”–10” X 12”–14” in size; brush the top of the dough liberally with olive oil. If the dough doesn’t easily roll out, let it rest a bit longer. A thinner crust is better because it will thicken up when it’s cooked.
Liberally brush a large piece of doubled parchment paper with olive oil. Using both hands, gently lift the pizza dough from the work surface to the prepared parchment paper; slide the parchment and dough onto a large rimmed baking sheet, then liberally brush the dough with olive oil. Use a fork to poke the dough all over the surface to keep it from bubbling up on the grill.
Now, it’s time to grill. Carefully use both hands to lift the parchment paper with the pizza dough, flipping them over and onto the hot grates, dough side down. Immediately peel the parchment paper from the top of the dough and close the grill lid.
Let the dough cook for a few minutes until it is nicely browned on the bottom, with good grill marks, checking the dough occasionally. Don’t open the grill too often, as it will lose 25-50 degrees of internal heat every time you do. As the dough cooks and begins to crisp on the bottom, feel free to reposition it as needed using tongs or a spatula.
Once the crust is cooked on the bottom as desired, use the tongs and spatula to gently flip the pizza crust over. Once the other side is done, use your tools to lift the cooked pizza crust from the grill to a rimmed baking sheet. Close the lid of the grill and return the grill to medium heat.
Design your pizza as desired and return it to the grill. Close the lid, letting the pizza cook for a few minutes, just until the toppings have reached your desired doneness and the pizza is hot throughout.
Lastly, lift or slide the grilled pizza onto a rimmed baking sheet, letting it rest for five minutes. Slide the grilled pizza onto a large cutting board and cut as desired. Serve at once.
If you aren’t interested in the time and effort involved in making your own pizza crust, a good alternative is to substitute a packaged or par-baked pizza crust for grilling.
