Grilled Pizza Margherita

When the Williams Sonoma catalogue arrives in the mail, I savor it and pour carefully over each page examining the contents while sipping my morning coffee and sulk about the fact the we do not have such a retail establishment in this area.  One of my favorite luxury items, which is regularly included in the catalogue and has a permanent place on my "someday when I win the lottery" list, is an outdoor wood fired terra cotta oven.  I dream of the European style Artisan breads I could bake, the kind with the thick blistered crust and perfectly chewey inside. Even more so, I long to recreate the authentic Italian pizzas with the thin crisp crust, tomatoes glistening with olive oil and luxuriously melted fresh mozzerella cheese, just like the ones I drool over on the travel channel (in another life I want to come back as Samantha Brown....love her!!).  Until then my reality is the gas fueled Weber grill in the back yard. Good news is, as it turns out, the good 'ole Weber can crank out one fabulous knock off version (if I do say so myself).  

If you visit me here on a regular basis you know that I have had a pretty standard pizza dough recipe that I have used for quite some time.  However, desiring a crispier, lighter pizza crust, I began researching and came across this recipe from Chef Chris Bianco in "The Gourmet Cookbook" which claimed a resulting "thin, blistered crust that is crisp all across the bottom and chewy on the edges".  It delivered, as promised, hands down the best pizza crust I have ever had, restaurant or home made. 

Basic Pizza Dough     adapted from a recipe by Chris Bianco in "The Gourmet Cookbook"
1 (1/4-ounce) package active dry yeast
1 3/4 cups uncleached all-pupose flour, plus more for kneading and dredging
3/4 cup warm water
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 teaspoons olive oil 

Stir together yeast, 1 tablespoon flour, and 1/4 cup warm water in a measuring cup and let stand until surface appears creamy, about 5 minutes.  

Stir together 1 1/4 cups flour and salt in a large bowl.  Add yeast mixture, oil, and remaining 1/2 cup warm water and stir until smooth.  Stir in enough remaining flour (about 1/2 cup) so dough comes away from the sides of the bowl.  

Knead dough on a dry surface with lightly floured hands (reflour hands when dough becomes too sticky) until smooth, soft, and elastic, about 8 minutes.  Form into 4 balls for individual pizzas and put on a lightly floured surface and generously dust with flour.  Loosely cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, about 1 1/4 hours. 

To shape the dough for grilling, do not punch down dough.  Carefully dredge 1 ball of dough in a bowl of flour to caot and transfer to a dry work surface.  Holding one edge of dough in the air with both hands and letting the bottom touch work surface, carefully move hands around edge of dough (like turning a steering wheel), allowing the weigh of dough to stretch  to roughly 4 inches.  Transfer to a floured tray and work edges with fingers to get desired shape.  Let side on tray for about 15 minutes and prepare per recipe.  

No Cook Tomato Sauce
1 can San Marzano tomatoes (drained)
1 large garlic clove, minced
2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
fresh oregano 
2 tablespoons olive oil 

Place drained tomatoes in a large mixing bowl and mash with a potato masher until an even consistency is made.  Add remaining ingredients and stir to combine.  

To grill the dough, brush one side with olive oil and place on a moderately hot grill with the oiled side down.  Brush top side with olive oil. Cover the lid and let cook for about 3-5 minutes depending on the heat of the great.  Turn with a spatula (surprisingly it will not stick and be very easy to turn) and top with tomato sauce and fresh mozzeralla cheese.  Let cook for approximately 7-10 minutes or until crust is puffed and crunchy, cheese is melted and sauce is bubbly.  Garnish with fresh torn basil and shaved parmesan.