It’s Friday night, and that means, Pizza Time! Topped with some gorgeous summer flavours and ready for a relaxing evening.
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Since it’s Summer, it’s time to be cooking your pizzas outdoors when possible. You don’t even need a pizza oven if you don’t have the money or space! Cooking pizza on the BBQ has been a favourite of mine for years, and you will definitely love it once you try it.
I recently purchased an Ooni 3 pizza oven and had some friends over to test it out. It was pretty fantastic and if you can, you should get your hands on one. That’s not a paid endorsement, I’ve just always wanted one and finally got one! But before getting the oven (which was a birthday gift to myself) I had already asked my friends to come over for pizza…cooked on the BBQ! My one friend had never heard of doing it before and was intrigued as to how it’s done. And then was thrilled at how easy it was!
Pizza on the BBQ
I’ve always had a charcoal BBQ but this would work just as well on a gas BBQ. The trick is getting the heat just right. If it’s too hot your crust will burn before the toppings melt. And if it’s too cold, the crust will goo through the grates and be a mess to clean up. Preheating the grill is definitely key. Once you have a smoking hot grill and the heat is hovering around “medium” (again, charcoal grill so not fully sure what temp it was at. I could hold my hand over it for only about 4 seconds.) Then you’ll be good to go!
Start by oiling your grill, well. Get all of your toppings ready and beside you. You will be topping the pizza without removing it from the grill, so you’ll need to be quick. Then take your pizza dough (I’m using this one) and stretch it out to your desired size. Lay the dough on the grill and cook for about a minute until it’s just just firm enough on the bottom to be able to flip it. The dough should not stick to your grill if it’s hot enough and oiled. Once flipped, spread on your sauce, top with your toppings, finish with cheese and close the lid. Closing the lid allows the cheese to melt.
If you have a wide enough grill to have two separate heats going, have one side be off the direct heat, and do your topping and melting on that side to help the bottom to not burn.
Some Summery Toppings
On this pizza I decided to go with Salmon as my protein. Salmon on pizza isn’t wildly novel or anything, but I do know enough people who’ve never had it before. (and who seem genuinely baffled by the thought of it) Normally, though, a Frutti di Mer (Seafood Pizza) would have a bunch of shellfish on it and a cream based sauce. So this style I guess is just called a Salmon Pizza?
Basically, I thought to myself, what flavours are delicious with salmon? Garlicky pesto? Sharp salty Parmesan? A touch of lemon? Check, check, check. There’s also some yummy bits of boccocini all over as well, because it doesn’t feel like a pizza without that cheese pull, amiright?
If smoked salmon is more what you’re craving, go for it! But I wanted that firey taste to really get driven home. So grilling the salmon first was key. It doesn’t need to be anything wild, you could even use leftovers from a previous BBQ. (Pizza is a great way to use up leftovers!) If you’re really feeling like going all out, try this Cedar Plank Salmon as your topping.
This whole pizza really screams early summer, so get your friends over and show off your new BBQ pizza skills!
Salmon & Pesto Pizza
Ingredients
- 1 Recipe Basic Pizza Dough – This recipe makes enough for 5 personal pizzas. The extra dough can be frozen. https://dorkylittlehomestead.ca/2019/01/27/basic-and-delicious-pizza-dough/
- 150 g Grilled Salmon
- 1/4 cup Pesto
- 3 balls Boccocini Cheese Sliced and torn
- 3 Tbsp Finely Grated Parmesan
- Juice of half a Lemon
Instructions
- Prepare your pizza dough, up to the stage of stretching.
- Heat your grill to a medium heat. If your grill is wide enough to have two different heat levels, have one half at a low heat. Oil the grill grates very well.
- Stretch your dough to desired size and thickness. Gently lay it onto the hotter side of the grill. Cook for about 1 minute. You want the bottom to firm up enough that you can flip it. Flip it over on the hot side, cook for about 30seconds, then slide over to the cooler side.
- Quickly and carefully, spread the pesto onto the crust. Top with the salmon and boccocini, and close the lid of the grill. Cook for about 5 minutes, or until the toppings are melted and the crust is golden around the outside.
- Using a pizza peel, or very carefully with tongs, remove the pizza from the grill.
- Sprinkle with shredded Parmesan, and squeeze the lemon juice all over. Serve!
LizaLeigh
