Pear, blue cheese star in grilled pizzas
Pre-cooking dough on barbecue adds smoky notes and makes base sturdy
While I have delicious memories of some pear-and-blue-cheese appetizer pizzas I made long ago (those ones even had a drizzle of thyme-infused honey, I think), I had doubts about this recipe, cooked on the barbecue rather than in the oven.
Would uncooked dough work on the grill? Yes, wonderfully, it turns out.
This recipe from Foodland Ontario starts with packaged premade dough, available at many Italian specialty shops and bakeries. I used my favourite pizza dough recipe, and it worked perfectly, too.
Pre-cooking the bases on the grill for a few minutes, including flipping them to cook both sides a bit, makes them just sturdy enough to support the toppings without flopping and adds lovely smoky notes that go so well with the blue cheese and caramelized shallots.
PEAR AND BLUE CHEESE PIZZAS ON THE GRILL
Makes: about 40 pieces (serves 8 to 10 as an appetizer) Preparation time: about 45 minutes 2 tbsp (30 mL) olive oil 1 cup (250 mL) thinly sliced shallots 3 tbsp (45 mL) balsamic vinegar 1 tbsp (15 mL) maple syrup 1 pkg (650 g) pizza dough, thawed if frozen 3/4 cup (180 mL) crumbled blue cheese 3 pears, peeled and thinly sliced 1. In a small skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Add shallots; reduce heat to medium-low and cook, stirring occasionally, until golden brown and very soft, 5 to 8 minutes.
2. Add vinegar and maple syrup; simmer gently until shallots are glazed and most of the liquid has evaporated, 5 to 6 minutes (or longer until they are richly caramelized and dark brown). Remove from heat.
3. Lightly oil a clean counter. Roll or stretch out dough into two 6- by 12-inch (15- by 30-cm) rectangles. (Rectangles fit better on a grill than round pizzas do.)
4. Preheat barbecue to high. Place both dough rectangles on grill, close lid and reduce heat to medium-high. Grill for 2 minutes; flip over and grill another 2 minutes.
5. If dough puffs up, press down with a metal spatula. Remove from grill.
6. Using metal spatula, spread cheese evenly over hot pizza crusts. Arrange pears, then caramelized shallots, evenly over cheese.
7. Return pizzas to grill, reduce heat to low, and grill until dough is cooked through and slightly charred on the bottom, 2 to 4 minutes.
8. Remove from grill, cool slightly and cut into pieces.