Margherita pizza is named after Italian Queen Margherita, and it symbolizes the three colors of the Italian flat — red, green and white. These three colors fill the upper surface of the pizza, thanks to the toppings of tomatoes, green basil, and cheese.
Thin-crust Margherita pizza
Elastic dough is necessary to make a thin-crust pizza. This dough we have taken will make four pizzas.
Ingredients:
- Bread flour: 2 cups
- Salt: One inch
- Sugar: 1 tbs
- Yeast: 1 teaspoon
- Whole wheat flour: 1 tbs
- Water: 1 cup
- Olive oil: 1/3 cup
Follow these steps to grill Margherita pizza:
Step 1: Prepare the Dough
Stir all the ingredients together for 2 minutes and prepare the dough.
Remove the dough from the pot and cover it with a towel. Allow it to rest for about one hour in a warm environment.
Divide the dough into four parts and roll out each of them. Let it rest for 15 minutes.
Now, roll out each to about 10 inches in diameter.
Then, roll out each piece to about 9 inches in diameter. Stack the dough rounds, separated by waxed paper, until you’re going to grill.
Step 2: Prepare Topping
Immediately before you add toppings and begin to grill, the grilled crusts need a coat of oil, so that the tomato juices do not soak into the crusts. Plain olive oil is a great option, but it’s still better to use infused olive oil.
To prepare the infused oil, gently warm half a cup olive oil and add three peeled garlic cloves and two tablespoons of dried hot pepper. After about two minutes, remove it from the heat and let it cool. Pass it through a filter to get the infused oil. Use it for your pizza now, and store the rest in a freeze for later use.
Primary topping ingredients:
- Grated Gruyere
- Mozzarella
- Fontina
- Provolone
- Fresh grated Parmesan cheese
- White Cheddar cheese Sliced,
- Fresh, ripe tomatoes (Tomatoes’ seeds should be removed and it should be sprinkled with salt. All the liquid in it should be gently pressed out through a filter.)
- Fresh basil leaves (don’t cut them into small pieces)
Step 3: Prepare the Grill
With hot charcoal, it takes about one minute of cooking for the first step. After adding the toppings, the second step takes just about 2 minutes.
If you didn’t use charcoal smoker yet, you should know first before start grilling. I found an in depth post on Smoke Gears.
Step 4: Grill the Crust (Part 3)
Dust the pizza peel lightly with flour, before placing a dough round. Now, slide the dough over the charcoal grill.
After grilling, it will be easier to remove the dough than it was to slide over the grill.
Step 5: Grill the Crust (Part 3)
After a minute, the dough will start to puff up. Use tongs to peek below the edge. When it begins to turn brown, remove the dough.
Step 6: Grill the Crust (Part 3)
Place the crust in a plate and keep its grilled side up.
Step 7: Add Toppings and Grill It
The pizzas will be grilled separately, one at a time. The cooking is quick.
Now, put the grilled dough round on the flour-dusted pizza peel. Keep the grilled side of the crust up.
Now, spread olive oil or infused olive oil on the grilled side of the crust. Place sliced tomatoes, basil leaves, and grated cheese over it. Carefully slide it onto the grill and cover it. With hot coals, the pizza will be ready in about a minute.
Step 8: Serve It
You can make two pizzas with cheese and tomatoes, and two Margheritas. The four pizzas can be ready in a short a short time. With a fire, by the time the fourth comes out of the grill, the first is hot enough.
Final Words
Though it does not take more than five minutes of grilling for a single pizza to be ready, the secret of a great pizza lies in the details. From preparing the dough to rolling it out into a round pizza shape, and more complicated task of making the toppings and placing them on the dough rounds before grilling requires deft handling of the entire process.
With experience, you will be able to grill better pizza, but the point that you need to bear in mind is that the placement of toppings has to be wise both in terms of ingredients and the timing of their placement. If you put too much of the toppings right in the beginning, handling the pizza could become difficult. So, place the toppings in two tranches, keeping the first small…and if all else fails, there is always pizza delivery to save the day. Enjoy!
