Our BBQ’d Pizza was built on rosemary focaccia pizza dough with Italian tomato sauce, goat cheese, spinach and sun-dried tomatoes drizzled with a little bit of olive oil. (Oh… my… GAWD!!) The salad was an arugula and spinach mix from a packet with walnuts, cranberries and cherry tomatoes topped with raspberry vinaigrette dressing. (Did I say oh my GAWD yet?)
My husband worked at Little Cesar’s when he was in high school. Every single time we’ve ever ordered a pizza I had a front seat to a critique only rivaled by Bobby Flay from that show where he yells at people for being a bad cook. So, one day as we were walking the aisles of our local Fresh & Easy, I had a chance to see what he could do. “Hey, look at that.”, I said coyly. “They have pizza dough on sale. Wanna make me a pizza?” I half expected him to brush me off or poo-poo the idea. The picture there to the right, that’s what I got instead. The description below doesn’t even begin to describe just how mouth-wateringly yummy this meal turned out to be.
For just under $10 at Fresh & Easy, we had one of the best summer meals I’ve ever had the pleasure of eating. And, I got to see my husband do that pizza-guy, dough in the air trick. What’s better than that?
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Ingredients:
FOR THE PIZZA
- 1 Pizza dough packet (we chose rosemary focaccia)
- 1 Jar of sun-dried tomatoes
- 1 jar of Italian tomato sauce
- 1 container of goat cheese
- 1 Package of leaf spinach
FOR THE SALAD:
- Arugula and spinach salad mix
- Walnuts
- Cranberries
- Cherry tomatoes
- Raspberry vinaigrette dressing
Preparation:
1) Pre-heat your grill to 500. That’ll kill any bacteria or thing that may have been on there recently. (Your grill does live outside, after all.) Once it hits 500, turn it down to medium on the knobs settings. If you don’t have a thermometer on your grill, to get to 500 just turn all knobs to high and let it sit for about 8 to 10 minutes (depending on the current outdoor temperature). Then, turn them to the middle setting.
[NOTE: At 68 degrees outside, it took my grill 6 minutes/25 seconds to hit 500 on the thermo]
2) Go ahead and throw all your salad ingredients into a large bowl and toss. Cover and put it into the fridge while you cook the pizza.
3) Prepare your toppings so that everything is ready for the pizza. I like to use small bowls for each ingredient so they’re ready to go right onto the pizza when the dough is done cooking.
4) Allow the dough to sit out for 10 minutes or so on a flat, lightly floured surface. Once it’s not too cold, you’ll be able to push it out into a wide circle with your fingers. If you’re feeling extra manly (like my husband did), throw it in the air like a pizza guy so your kids will be super impressed. Do this while your grill is heating up.
Cooking:
1) Spray your BBQ grill with PAM Grill Spray or drizzle with olive oil and wipe with a paper towel so it’s evenly distributed onto the grill.
2) Put the circled pizza dough on the grill for 2 to 3 minutes or until it’s got a nice brown color and those beautiful grill lines.
3) Once that side is done cooking, use some tongs or a spatula to flip the pizza dough onto a rimless cookie sheet or chopping block onto the uncooked side. Again, the cooked side should be facing up.
4) Turn your grill down to just between low and medium on the knobs. Reducing the heat will let your toppings cook without burning the bottom of your pizza.
5) Lightly cover the surface of your pizza with olive oil then, using a ladle or a large spoon, spread out your pizza sauce so that it leaves only about a half inch of crust showing around the edges of the pizza.
6) Add spinach, sun-dried tomatoes and goat cheese.
7) Re-apply the PAM Grill Spray to the grill. (Or drizzle olive oil on and wipe with a paper towel so it’s evenly distributed.)
8) Slide your pizza dough onto the grill and cook for 3 to 4 minutes with the top down. Cook until the bottom begins to char or until your toppings are fully cooked.
9) Pull off the grate with tongs or a spatula and onto a chopping block or other flat surface and let rest for a couple minutes before cutting into slices.
The rich flavors of the rosemary focaccia pizza crust, goat cheese, spinach and sun-dried tomatoes will just pop in your mouth. They create an amazing combination that go so well with the subtle flavors of the cold, crisp arugula and spinach mix with walnuts, cranberries and cherry tomatoes jumping out from under the delicious raspberry vinaigrette dressing. This is a dish you need to try! Pour a nice glass of Cabernet Sauvignon or an ice-cold glass of lemonade and enjoy!