Grilled Pizza with Figs and Other Delights

Whoever thought of making pizza on the grill deserves a medal from the culinary medal committee. The grill can get much hotter than my inside oven, delivering that crunchy, nearly burnt crust that's so loved and so authentic. I've made it several times in the past, always placing the pizza dough directly on the grates. This time, I wanted to heat up my pizza stone on the grill and toss the dough onto the stone. It really does produce a more even browning, and it's much easier to handle when it comes time to flip it over. The only problem is that until you recognize just how hot the pizza stone can get, you're likely to burn your first attempt. That's what happened to the first round of dough I placed on the stone. It burned in only one minute. That didn't keep my neighbor's daughters, Janie and Annie, from munching on the burnt offering while we were putting together round two of the pizzas.

Get all the toppings ready ahead of time because the cooking goes really fast. In this case, we were making a couple of pizzas - first the pizza with figs, prosciutto and other goodies. I posted about this pizza in my early blogging days when I had no readers other than my family, and it's so delicious I thought it was worth a repeat here. 

Stretch out your pizza dough (purchased or home-made - this one is from a local pizza shop). Toss it on the grill or pizza stone and keep a close watch on it. It will take only a couple of minutes to brown. 

Flip it over and cover with the cheeses, chopped walnuts and the sliced figs.

Remove it from the grill and add the sliced prosciutto and arugula. Last time I posted about this pizza, I added all the toppings and cooked them together, but now I much prefer to layer the prosciutto and arugula after the pizza is cooked. They taste much fresher that way. Drizzle with a little extra balsamic "essenza" or glaze if you've got it. If not, don't fret. It's delicious even without it.

Figs and gorgonzola not your favorite? Just go with a classic topping of tomatoes - in this case grape tomatoes from the garden - mozzarella cheese and basil. A grinding of salt also enhances.

Grilled Pizza 

Printable Recipe Here

Buy pizza dough or make your own.

Heat up the grill to highest setting. As it turns out, the highest setting on my grill was too hot and burned the first batch of dough. Experiment to see what temperature works for you.

Cook the first side of the dough directly on the grates or on a pizza stone that you've heated on the grill.

Flip it over and add any toppings you like.

In these two cases:

Pizza with Figs, Prosciutto and Gorgonzola

Cook the first side of the dough as described above. Flip it over onto the grill or pizza stone. I placed figs, chopped walnuts, about two ounces of gorgonzola and four ounces of mozzarella on top and let the cheese melt. It took another two to three minutes and the other side of the dough gets cooked and browned.

Remove to a platter and top with slices of prosciutto and arugula that's been tossed in some oil and vinegar.

Pizza with Grape Tomatoes and Mozzarella

Cook one side of the dough on the grill or pizza stone. Flip it over and top with grape tomatoes, about four ounces of mozzarella, fresh basil and a sprinkling of salt. If I had thought about it ahead of time, I might have cooked the tomatoes whole to caramelize a bit before placing on the top. Either way, it's pretty irresistible.