Pizza on the Grill

There aren't too many people I've met in my lifetime that have not loved pizza. Answers.com states that on average Americans eat 750 slices of pizza a year...that's 125 6-slice pizzas per person! My assumption is the majority of them are purchased, not homemade, and probably not all that great. I know I have had my share of Chuckie Cheese (bleh), Domino's, and the like - but there are some great places serving excellent pizza. Making it at home is not all that difficult, and the recipes are pretty foolproof. That being said, never fear to go to your local pizza parlor and ask to purchase raw dough. If you are fearful of dough prep that option is great and you can keep it in the fridge for several days!

Simple Pizza Dough Recipe:
1 pkg active dry yeast
¼ teaspoon sugar
1 ¼ cup warm water
3 to 3/12 cups all purpose flour (or mix ½ all purpose and ½ whole wheat)
1 Tablespoon olive oil
¼ teaspoon kosher salt

How to:
run your faucet to warm, so the temp is comfortable to your wrist – not scalding!
Add sugar to your measuring cup then add water
Add packet of yeast and give a quick stir, set aside
You will want a bubbly type foam to begin forming on top of the water before adding to dry ingredients

In mixing bowl wisk together your flour and salt
Add liquids (water/yeast and olive oil) and gently mix together, dough may be a little sticky.
Toss out of bowl onto your counter that has been dusted with flour.
Knead dough, adding a little flour at a time, only till dough does not stick to your hands and becomes smooth.

Splash a little olive oil in a clean mixing bowl and add your kneaded dough ball. Cover with a kitchen towel or plastic wrap and set someplace warm with no drafts. Allow dough to rise double in size, typically I let it go 1 ½ hrs.
Punch down and knead slightly on a floured surface, cut into 3 equal pieces.
Use a rolling pin to create a round, somewhat thin, layer. Move to a floured surface (cutting board, back of a cookie sheet or a pizza peel if you have one).

Cooking on a gas grill:
Heat all burners on high for 15 min, clean your grilling surface.
Slighly oil a washcloth then using a pair of tongs oil the surface grid of the grill.
Brush the pizza dough with olive oil somewhat liberally and slide off onto the grill surface. Rearrange if needed.
Put dough oil side down on grill, close cover and check in 3-4 min. Bottom should be brown and crusty, if not go another minute or so. The top will be puffy or bubbly, don't worry that is the way it should be.
Brush the exposed dough with oil and using a large spatula flip it over.
Cook another 3-4 minutes.

When happy with crust, pull off heat add toppings and put back on grill just till cheese is gooey!
Allow to cool a couple minutes and then slice and eat.

Topping suggestions – get inventive with your combinations:
Red sauce, no sauce, even a Tapenade!
Pepperoni
Banana peppers
Roasted tomatoes
Roasted peppers
Grilled chicken
Grapes and honey
Chorizo
Prociutto
Grilled Pineapple
Chorizo
Arugula
Goat Cheese
Pecorino
Parmesean
Brie
Blue Cheese
Cheddar
Mozzarella