The Times Herald (Norristown, PA)
Pizza Margherita made on the BBQ
Successful parties offer something for everyone — and it’s a rare soul who doesn’t love a Pizza Margherita. So for your next party, surprise and delight your guests with this crowd-pleasing pizza cooked on your backyard grill or in the oven.
To make this easy for entertaining, I usually make the pizza dough as much as a week in advance. Freeze it, then bring it to room temperature and let it rise on the morning of the party. Or make the dough the night before and let it rise in the refrigerator overnight, so the cold will slow the rising.
The recipe below includes oven directions, but it’s easy to cook this pizza on an outdoor grill: Heat the grill to medium, then turn it down to low. Brush the grill with olive oil. Roll out your dough, transfer it to a semolina-dusted pizza peel, then brush the top of the pizza dough with oil. This helps the dough become crisp when cooking.
Slide the pizza onto the grill and quickly add toppings. Close the grill cover. After a few minutes, or when the bottom has started to firm up and crisp, turn off the grill (or move the pizza to a part of the grill that is off), close the cover and let the pizza cook in the ambient heat until the dough is cooked and the cheese is melted.
Pizza Margherita with Tomatoes, Basil and Burrata
Makes two 12-inch pizzas INGREDIENTS Dough: 1 tablespoon active dry yeast
¾ cup warm water (110 to 115 degrees; it should be warm to the touch, like bathwater, but not hot) 2 cups all-purpose flour 1¼ teaspoons kosher salt 1½ tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more to coat bowl Semolina flour Toppings: 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
24-ounce can peeled, seeded and chopped tomatoes, such as Muir Glen
1 tablespoon tomato paste
½ teaspoon dried oregano
¼ teaspoon dried rosemary, finely chopped
1¾ teaspoons kosher salt or to taste
16 ounces burrata or fresh mozzarella cheese, sliced 1/8-inch thick, drained in a strainer for 10 minutes
½ cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
1 cup small basil leaves, or torn large leaves INSTRUCTIONS
Place a pizza baking stone in your oven and heat oven to 550 degrees.
Proof the yeast: In a small bowl, combine yeast with warm water. Stir gently and thoroughly. Let mixture sit in a warm spot until a thin layer of foam covers the surface, about 5 minutes. (If bubbles have not formed in 5 minutes, discard mixture and start over with fresher yeast.)
In a medium bowl, combine flour and salt. Make a well in the center and pour in the yeast-water mixture and oil. Incorporate the flour into the liquid a little at a time, until the flour is mixed in and the dough just begins to hold together.
Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Dust your hands with flour and knead dough gently, pressing down with the heels of your hands and pushing the dough away from you, then partially folding the dough back over itself. Shift it a quarter turn and repeat. Continue kneading until the dough is smooth and elastic, 5 to 7 minutes. Shape dough into a ball and place it in a well-oiled bowl, turning to coat the dough completely on all sides with oil. (This prevents a hard crust from forming that would inhibit rising.) Cover bowl tightly with plastic wrap. Set dough to rise in a warm (75 to 85 degrees), draft-free place, until doubled in volume, 60 to 90 minutes.
For the tomato sauce: Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil over medium heat in a sauté pan. Add garlic and sauté for 15 seconds. Add tomatoes, tomato paste and dried herbs, and simmer until all the liquid is gone, 5 to 7 minutes. Stir in salt. Transfer sauce to a chilled bowl to cool for a few minutes.
Once the dough has doubled in volume, cut the dough in half. Do not work the dough, as it will make it too elastic when you try to roll it out. Instead, generously dust dough with
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flour and roll it to form a 10-inch circle, about ¼-inch thick. Transfer it to a pizza peel that has been sprinkled with semolina. Brush pizza dough with olive oil, then spread half the cooked tomatoes on top. Arrange half the burrata on top. Slide pizza onto the heated stone and bake until golden and crisp, 8 to 10 minutes.
Remove pizza from oven, sprinkle lightly with grated Parmigiano-Reggiano and basil leaves and serve immediately. Repeat with remaining ingredients to make a second pizza. Bibby Gignilliat is the founder of Parties That Cook, a San Franciscobased culinary event company; www. PartiesThatCook.com.