Although I started this recipe out with the Onion, Fig and Stilton Cheese version below, when I started typing out the shopping list, I was thinking of Lilly Yu and some other off-campus Wiessmen. I realized no normal college student is going to make a fig and onion pizza, so I’m adding a basic pepperoni pizza to grill here.
Baked or Grilled Pepperoni Pizza
Ingredients:
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- 6 oz shredded Mozzarella or Italian combination cheese
- 5 oz sliced pepperoni (try substituting Canadian bacon!)
- 1/2 cup to 1 cup spaghetti sauce (can substitute 2 Roma tomatoes, sliced thin)
- Optional: 2-3 fresh basil leaves, sliced into narrow strips
- 1 (10-ounce) prebaked thin pizza crust or make your own:
- 1 package active dry yeast (for home-made crust)
- 1-1/4 cups warm water (for home-made crust)
- 4-1/4 cups flour (for home-made crust)
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt (for home-made crust)
- 1/4 cup plus 2 Tablespoons olive oil (for home-made crust)
- 1 metal pizza pan or a large cookie sheet
Preheat oven to 500 degrees F.
Make pizza crust or buy one pre-made. When the home-made dough is ready, stretch it out in a size that will fit the pizza pan.
Heat the pan in the oven for 3 minutes, then remove carefully with oven mits or other heat-retardant pads and place on trivet, wire rack or other heat-tolerant surface.
Spray the stretched dough on one side with Pam and place that side down on the hot pan. Spray the top side of the dough with Pam and bake 8-10 minutes. It is important to bake the dough before adding ingredients if you are cooking at home.
If using pre-baked crust, just spray lightly with Pam and heat 3 minutes in 500 degree oven.
Scatter the cheese over the warm pizza crust. Next, pour your sauce back and forth making a zig-zag pattern over the cheese. It is okay not to completely cover the cheese. If you prefer a light pizza, replace the sauce with sliced Roma tomatoes – leave spaces between slices, don’t completely cover the cheese.
Scatter the sliced pepperoni over the sauce or sliced tomatoes, then scatter the strips of basil over the pepperoni (basil is optional).
Don’t over do the toppings, leave some of the grilled crust showing through the toppings.
Heat for 3-4 minutes in 500 degree F oven and serve warm with a crisp green salad and skinny bread sticks like you can find at Cafe Express.
While searching for a replacement to the grilled pizza recipe Susie Mauzy gave me, I stumbled across this recipe in the Weight Watchers cook book. Timely, since Susie recently gave me several cups of figs from their tree. Now if I could just find that original grilled pizza crust recipe…
Caramelized Onion, Fig and Stilton Grilled Pizza
Ingredients for your shopping list:
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- 3 Vidalia or other sweet onions,
thinly sliced - 6 dried figs, stemmed and sliced
- 1 (10-ounce) prebaked thin whole wheat
pizza crust - 3 ounces Stilton cheese, crumbled
Summary: Make pizza crust or buy one pre-baked. Heat oil on high, then reduce heat and saute thinly sliced onions in oil over medium heat for 5 minutes.* Add figs and reduce heat to low, stirring and sauteeing for 12 more minutes. Stretch out hand-made pizza dough, spray well with Pam and heat one side on the grill over medium high heat for 3 minutes. If using pre-baked crust, just spray lightly with Pam and heat 3 minutes on grill. Flip the cooked pizza crust over so the grill-marked side is up, quickly arrange your toppings over the crust and grill 3 more minutes. Don’t over do the toppings, leave some of the grilled crust showing through the toppings. Enjoy hot off the grill with a fresh, crisp salad.
*Carlyn’s deviation: I want a grilled pizza tonight, not one baked in an oven…so at this point, my husband heats up the grill.
See also:
Update: Susie sent me this link for Fine Cooking’s grilled pizza dough. Hurray!