Grilled Pizza with Summer Squash, Cherry Tomatoes, and Fresh Mozzarella
It takes a little more attention to grill a pizza than to bake one, but the smoky touch of the grill is appealing—the next best thing to baking in a wood-fired oven. When Brian teaches pizza classes at the winery in summer, he demonstrates the grilling technique because so few people have a wood oven at home. The trick is to start the pizza crust in a hot zone to set it, and then flip it and move it to a cooler zone to add the topping and finish cooking. This topping is vegetarian, but you could add some crumbled sausage or pancetta, if you like.
Recipe information
Yield
makes four 8-inch pizzas
Ingredients
Tomato Sauce
Preparation
Step 1
For the tomato sauce: Heat the oil in a skillet over high heat. Add the garlic and chile flakes and sauté until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the tomatoes and basil. Season with salt and simmer briskly, stirring often, until the tomatoes collapse into a thick sauce, about 10 minutes. Remove the basil sprig and remove the sauce from the heat.
Step 2
In a large skillet over high heat, warm the 2 tablespoons olive oil. Add the diced squash and a pinch of salt and sauté until slightly softened, about 2 minutes. Add the garlic, parsley, and basil and sauté until fragrant, 1 to 2 minutes. Spread the mixture on a baking sheet to cool.
Step 3
Prepare a medium-hot charcoal fire, then move the coals to one half of the grill, arranging them in an evenly thick layer. Or preheat a gas grill, turning one burner to high and one to medium.
Step 4
With lightly floured fingers on a lightly floured work surface, flatten one ball of pizza dough into a round. Pick up the round with both hands and, grasping the round by an edge, rotate the dough clockwise between your fingertips, always holding it by the edge. As you rotate the dough, stretch it into an 8-inch circle; the dough will also stretch and lengthen from its own weight. Alternatively, drape the flattened round over your lightly floured knuckles and rotate the dough, moving your knuckles slightly farther apart, until the round stretches into an 8-inch circle.
Step 5
Set the stretched dough on the floured work surface. Brush the top with olive oil, then place the dough directly over the coals or on the hot side of the gas grill, oiled side down. Brush the new top side with olive oil. Cook until the underside is nicely marked by the grill and the dough is firm enough to move with tongs, about 1 minute. Give the dough a quarter turn and continue cooking for about 1 minute longer, using tongs to check the bottom often to be sure it is not burning.
Step 6
With tongs, flip the pizza over onto the grill’s cooler zone. Working quickly, brush with one-quarter of the tomato sauce, spreading it evenly but leaving a 1/2-inch border uncovered. Top with one-quarter of the squash, cherry tomatoes, and mozzarella, in that order. Sprinkle with 1 tablespoon Parmesan and a few grinds of pepper. Cover the grill and cook until the mozzarella melts, about 2 minutes.
Step 7
Transfer the pizza to a cutting board. Sprinkle with a few torn basil leaves. Cut into wedges and serve immediately. Repeat with the remaining 3 balls of dough.
Step 8
Enjoy with Cakebread Cellars Sauvignon Blanc or another refreshing white wine.
