GREAT GRILLED PIZZA

After weeks of making burnt, puffy pies, we learned that the keys to crisp-tender, lightly charred pizza from the grill are quite simple: a strategic setup and a glug of oil.

I like to host pizza parties year-round, but come summertime the last thing I want to do is crank up the oven and cook in a hot kitchen. That’s when I opt to grill pizza. Not only does this approach allow me to move both the kitchen and the party outdoors, but when made well, the pie is a lighter and fresher style of pizza, perfect for summer appetites: a thin, audibly crisp, lightly charred crust that’s tender within and topped judiciously (so as not to saturate the crust) with a simple tomato sauce, pockets of cheese, and fresh herbs.

My standards for grilled pizza are admittedly high, since I was introduced to this style at Al Forno in Providence, Rhode Island, the restaurant where the dish is said to have been invented more than three decades ago. There, the pies are cooked on a custom-made wood-fired grill, which produces a gorgeously charred, crisp-tender oblong crust that the kitchen tops with alternating islands of bright, well-rounded tomato sauce and gooey melted cheese, a few shallow pools of rich olive oil, and zippy raw scallion curls.

But as proficient as I am at baking pizzas, I’ve found it much trickier to grill one. That’s because unlike an oven, which browns pizza from both the bottom and the top, a grill cooks pizza entirely from the bottom, which leaves the top soft and blond and the toppings undercooked, even when the grill is covered. To brown the second side, many recipes call for flipping the dough before applying any toppings, but I’ve found that this also causes the dough to puff up from edge to edge—more like a flatbread than pizza.

The grill at Al Forno solves this problem because it features a brick enclosure that absorbs heat and then reflects it back onto the top of the pie, much like an oven would. Without that setup, I’d need to test other ways to achieve the results I was after.

Slick Move

Grilling the dough on both sides was a must if I wanted flavorful browning on the top and bottom, so I focused my first tests on keeping the dough flat. I used our Thin-Crust Pizza dough as a jumping-off point; it’s a mixture of bread  flour, instant yeast, water, vegetable oil, salt, and sugar that comes together in minutes in the food processor and stretches beautifully without tearing or springing back. It also boasts a tight crumb with complex flavor thanks to a prolonged fermentation in the fridge, where the dough’s yeast produces sugars, alcohol, and acids. As for the grill setup, for now I’d cook the pies on a gas grill with all the burners set to high and revisit the method later if necessary.

Back to the puffiness issue: I wondered if the solution might be as simple as pressing the dough as thin as possible, which I tried with both my hands and a rolling pin. But neither of the mechanical methods worked: No matter how thin I stretched it, the dough inevitably puffed back up once it hit the grill. My only recourse was to try tweaking the dough formula itself. First I halved the amount of yeast, which did minimize the air bubbles but didn’t make the dough easier to stretch. What I really needed was a looser dough that would naturally spread more, so I gradually upped the amount of water until the dough was soft enough to stretch into a thin sheet but not so wet that it was so good. The finished product was proof that using lots of oil was well worth it: This pie was thin, tender, and richly flavorful, with a crisp shell—and it wasn’t the least bit greasy.

Playing with Fire

I should clarify that these pies had cooked nicely on a gas grill with the lid closed, but when I tried mimicking the results over a single-level charcoal fire, things got trickier. Simply put, it was much harder to maintain even heat over the entire surface, and the bottom of the crust tended to burn in the center before the outer edges had browned and the cheese had melted.

It wasn’t that the fire was too strong; I proved that to myself when I reduced the amount of charcoal and the same bull’s-eye effect happened, only more slowly. The problem was the shape of the kettle grill; even though the coals were spread in an even layer, the curved walls reflected heat and created a hot spot at the very center. The solution was to make the shape of the grill work in my favor by arranging the coals in a ring around the exterior of the grill with a void at the center; that way, the concentrated heat on the outside edge would reflect in. With that setup, I was able to achieve a more-even spread of heat from edge to edge.

However, this setup meant that I could cook just one pie at a time. But this was just as well: I’d also realized during testing that grilled pizza is more ephemeral than other styles and goes from perfectly crisp to limp in minutes, so serving one at a time was better. Going forward, I made sure to have everything I needed—all three sheets of stretched dough, sauce, cheese, and tools—at the ready so that I could cook and serve the pies as quickly as possible. In fact, it was best to pargrill all three pies before topping, grilling, and serving them one by one.

In Top Form

With my dough and my cooking method locked down, it was time to turn my attention to finessing the toppings, which, up to this point, had been just a coarse puree of whole tomatoes and seasonings along with some shredded mozzarella. The sauce needed nothing more than a little olive oil and sugar to balance the tomatoes’ bright acidity, but the cheese, which was a tad bland and had never fully melted in previous tests, needed rethinking. After a few tests, I switched from the block mozzarella we typically use on pizza to the softer, faster-melting fresh kind and supplemented it with salty-sharp finely grated Parmesan.

I was also strategic about how and when I added the toppings: First, I applied a thin but even layer of Parmesan (plus a little more olive oil), which created a flavorful barrier against the other toppings’ moisture, ensuring that the crust would stay crisp. Since slathering the thin dough with sauce and cheese would surely thwart crispness, I instead dolloped spoonfuls of sauce (warmed on the stove first to ensure it would be piping hot by the time the pizza was done) over the pargrilled dough surface, along with bite-size pieces of the mozzarella. I slid the pie back over the heat for 3 to 5 minutes to crisp up the crust and cook the toppings, checking the underside and rotating the pizza as necessary to make sure that it browned evenly. When it came off the grill, I finished it with chopped fresh basil, one more drizzle of oil, and a bit of coarse salt for crunch.

This was the closest replica of the Al Forno pie that I’d ever had: a crisp-tender crust that boasted richness from that oil bath and just a touch of smoke and char, simply and judiciously covered with pockets of bright, balanced sauce and just enough gooey cheese. It didn’t need any other toppings (though applying certain fresh items that don’t weigh down the pie after cooking is fine; and was as addictive to eat as it was fun to make.

Recipe

GRILLED PIZZA (SERVES 4 TO 6)

The dough must sit for at least 24 hours before shaping. We prefer the high protein content of King Arthur bread flour for this recipe, though other bread flours are acceptable. For best results, weigh your ingredients. It’s important to use ice water in the dough to prevent it from overheating in the food processor. Grilled pizza cooks quickly, so it’s critical to have all of your ingredients and tools ready ahead of time. We recommend pargrilling, topping, and grilling in quick succession and serving the pizzas one at a time, rather than all at once.

Dough

3 cups (16½ ounces) King Arthur bread flour
1 tablespoon sugar
¼ teaspoon instant or rapid-rise yeast
1¼ cups plus 2 tablespoons ice water (11 ounces)
1 tablespoon vegetable oil, plus extra for counter
1½ teaspoons salt

Sauce

1 (14-ounce) can whole peeled tomatoes, drained with juice reserved
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons minced fresh oregano
½ teaspoon sugar, plus extra for seasoning
Salt
¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes

Pizza

½ cup plus 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
3 ounces Parmesan cheese, grated (1½ cups)
8 ounces fresh whole-milk mozzarella cheese, torn into bite-size pieces (2 cups)
3 tablespoons shredded fresh basil
Coarse sea salt

1. FOR THE DOUGH:

Process flour, sugar, and yeast in food processor until combined, about 2 seconds. With processor running, slowly add ice water; process until dough is just combined and no dry flour remains, about 10 seconds. Let dough stand for 10 minutes.

2. Add oil and salt to dough and process until dough forms satiny, sticky ball that clears sides of bowl, 30 to 60 seconds. Transfer dough to lightly oiled counter and knead until smooth, about 1 minute. Divide dough into 3 equal pieces (about 9⅓ ounces each). Shape each piece into tight ball, transfer to well-oiled baking sheet (alternatively, place dough balls in individual well-oiled bowls), and coat top of each ball lightly with oil. Cover tightly with plastic wrap (taking care not to compress dough) and refrigerate for at least 24 hours or up to 3 days.

3. FOR THE SAUCE:

Pulse tomatoes in food processor until finely chopped, 12 to 15 pulses. Transfer to medium bowl and stir in reserved juice, oil, oregano, sugar, ½ teaspoon salt, and pepper flakes. Season with extra sugar and salt to taste, cover, and refrigerate until ready to use.

4. One hour before cooking pizza, remove dough from refrigerator and let stand at room temperature.

5A. FOR A CHARCOAL GRILL:

Open bottom vent halfway. Light large chimney starter three-quarters filled with charcoal briquettes (4½ quarts). When top coals are partially covered with ash, pour into ring around perimeter of grill, leaving 8-inch clearing in center. Set cooking grate in place, cover, and open lid vent halfway. Heat grill until hot, about 5 minutes.

5B. FOR A GAS GRILL:

Turn all burners to high, cover, and heat grill until hot, about 15 minutes. Leave all burners on high.

6. While grill is heating, transfer sauce to small saucepan and bring to simmer over medium heat. Cover and keep warm.

7. FOR THE PIZZA:

Clean and oil cooking grate. Pour ¼ cup oil onto center of rimmed baking sheet. Transfer 1 dough round to sheet and coat both sides of dough with oil. Using your fingertips and palms, gently press and stretch dough toward edges of sheet to form rough 16 by 12-inch oval of even thickness. Using both your hands, lift dough and carefully transfer to grill. (When transferring dough from sheet to grill, it will droop slightly to form half-moon or snowshoe shape.) Cook (over clearing if using charcoal; covered if using gas) until grill marks form, 2 to 3 minutes. Using tongs and spatula, carefully peel dough from grate, then rotate dough 90 degrees and continue to cook (covered if using gas) until second set of grill marks appears, 2 to 3 minutes longer. Flip dough and cook (covered if using gas) until second side of dough is lightly charred in spots, 2 to 3 minutes. Using tongs or pizza peel, transfer crust to cutting board, inverting so side that was grilled first is facing down. Repeat with remaining 2 dough rounds, adding 1 tablespoon oil to sheet for each round and keeping grill cover closed when not in use to retain heat.

8. Drizzle top of 1 crust with 1 tablespoon oil. Sprinkle one-third of Parmesan evenly over surface. Arrange one-third of mozzarella pieces, evenly spaced, on surface of pizza. Dollop one-third of sauce in evenly spaced 1-tablespoon mounds over surface of pizza. Using pizza peel or overturned rimmed baking sheet, transfer pizza to grill; cover and cook until bottom is well browned and mozzarella is melted, 3 to 5 minutes, checking bottom and turning frequently to prevent burning. Transfer pizza to cutting board, sprinkle with 1 tablespoon basil, drizzle lightly with extra oil, and season with salt to taste. Cut into wedges and serve. Repeat with remaining 2 crusts.

Toppings with a Light Touch

Because grills don’t heat the top of a pizza, and because the ultrathin crust can’t support much weight beyond sauce and cheese, it’s important to choose lightweight toppings that require little to no cooking—and to not go overboard. The following can be scattered over the pies once they come off the grill.

• baby arugula or spinach (lightly dressed with lemon juice, olive oil, salt, and cracked pepper)
• paper-thin slices of prosciutto
• pickled hot pepper rings
• roasted red peppers, sliced into strips
• thin-sliced scallion or onion
• chopped or torn fresh herbs
• red pepper flakes

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Conventional Dough Won’t Do

When we tried grilling our conventional pizza dough, we were met with a number of problems. Instead of the thin, even crust we were after, we ended up with a thick, bubbly flatbread.

DOESN’T SPREAD

Too little water in our conventional dough makes it impossible to roll it as flat as we wanted. (Too much yeast causes large air pockets to form and the crust to bubble as it cooks on the first side.

BROWNS UNEVENLY

The bubbling gives the top side an uneven surface that, when flipped, doesn’t lie flat on the cooking grate.

By Andrew Janjigian in "Cook's Illustrated", USA, number 141, July/August 2016, excerpts p. 19-21. Adapted and illustrated to be posted by Leopoldo Costa.