Best Pizza....ever?

This is possibly the best pizza I have ever had, and it's a recipe that anyone with a Barbecue (Preferably Gas) can make. My father came to my house one day, and my wife and I planned on making pizza in the oven on the stone as we normally do.  Larry recommended throwing it on the grill and the idea at first struck me as odd.  Do you rub olive oil on the dough to keep it from sticking? Isn't it going to burn?  Turns out, this is the best way to cook pizza at home, in fact, I don't think I have had a better pizza out. So here it is, give it a try and I'm sure you'll be a believer. This isn't a new method, as I have seen a similar set of instruction in the Dean and Deluca cook book, but I think it is one that people are scared to try.

Recipe Summary
Difficulty: Easy
Prep Time: 10 Minutes
Cook Time: 15 Minutes
Yield: 4 Servings
16 oz (1lb) Pizza Dough divided into two halves
1 8 oz Can Tomato sauce
2 Cloves Garlic, Finely Chopped
½ Medium Onion
5 Medium (or 10small) Cremini Mushrooms, Thinly Sliced 
Sliced Black Olives
3 Links Sausage (Cheese and Wine or comparable)
Cheese (4 Cheese Blend, Parmesan, Asiago, Fontina, Mild Provolone)
Olive Oil
Dried Oregano
Salt & Pepper to taste
Fresh Basil

Dough
Preheat Barbecue to medium high heat.  Separate dough into two equal halves and stretch (don't roll) into 8 inch Diameter rounds on a floured surface.  Place directly on Barbecue (no need to oil grill or dough) and cook for 4 minutes. Flip and reduce heat to med-low and cook for an additional 3 minutes

Toppings
Remove casing from Sausage, crumble and cook in a medium sauce pan on medium heat. Remove and drain on paper towels.  Add sliced onion and mushrooms to same pan and cook over medium high heat until onions are tender but not caramelized.  Return sausage to pan and remove from heat.  Place cooked pizza dough with the side you cooked first, facing up on a baking sheet.  Spoon on a thin layer of tomato sauce.  Sprinkle salt, pepper, oregano, and chopped garlic to taste.  Add a thin layer cheese.

Layer the Sausage/onion/ mushroom mix and black olives over the cheese.  Add another thin layer of cheese.  Drizzle olive oil around the crust.  Place the pizzas on the center of the grill and reduce the temperature to low (I have a three burner model and I turn off the middle burner). In 3 Minutes rotate the Pizza 180 degrees (for even cooking) and leave for another 3 minutes. Remove pizza, add fresh chopped basil and allow to sit for 2 minutes.

Enjoy!

--Jathan, California

Comments

[Sandy Kemsley]

I love pizza on the bbq! I made it the first time years ago when my nieces were quite young, and by using individual-sized crusts, the girls (and in fact the entire family) had quite a thrill by being able to create their own mix of toppings, and see the whole thing cook in a few short minutes on the grill. I remember the original recipe that I had (which I believe came from Eating Well magazine) said to flip the dough as soon as it smelled like bread baking, which was a great indicator as well as something that gets the taste buds working.

[Jathan]

That's a great suggestion! It's easy to burn the dough if the heat is too high, or if you leave it on to long, so trusting your nose is a great way to keep tabs on it.
Sometimes I'll crack the lid and take a peak after about three minutes, but peaking too much isn't good.
Thanks for the tip.

Toppings are so much fun. As with any pizza I try and stay away from anything that is too juicy, as especially with this cooking method, the dough can get soggy quickly.