This particular crust is a fairly thick sourdough-based crust. You could use a regular pizza dough crust if you want, but I like this variation.
The toppings here are all vegetable. I found a recipe for making great tasting "Zuchinnironi" pizza using thin zuchinni slices instead of pepperoni. It's better on my digestive system and it really does taste great! Like any other pizza recipe I post, feel free to vary the topings to your taste, but I encourage you to try this one at least once.
Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 cups sourdough starter
- 2 cups bread flour, sifted
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1/2 cup unsalted tomato sauce
- 12 thinly-sliced zuchinni circles
- Chopped oregano, to taste
- Chopped garlic, to taste
- Crushed red pepper flakes
- Fresh ground black pepper
- Olive Oil
- Fresh mozzerella cheese, chopped small, to taste
- Grated parmesan cheese, to taste
Directions:
Pizza Crust. Combine the flour and salt, then mix in the sourdough starter. Depending on your starter, you may need to add warm water or not. The mixture should take about 10 to 15 minutes to come together into a sticky dough substance. Let it rest for 10 minutes and then begin kneading by hand. I use olive oil on my hands while kneading the dough--the extra olive oil will come in handy when working to keep the bread from sticking to the grill. Let the dough rise for several hours.
Zuchinnironi. Toss the zuchinni slices in a bowl with a drizzle of olive oil, some red pepper flakes, salt, and black pepper. Set aside.
Cheese: Slice up the fresh mozzerella cheese and let it come to room temperature just when you are ready to put the pizza on the grill. If you put cold cheese on the pizza, it will take longer to melt and will throw off the cooking time. Room temperature cheese will melt faster--which is what we want.
Sauce: Mix chopped garlic, oregano, and tomato sauce in a small sauce pan. Warm up the sauce just before you are ready to put the dough on. I have a side burner on my grill, so I use that. The warm sauce will help melt the cheese so the pizza will be ready all together at the same time.
Bringing it all together. Oil up your hot grill and one side of the crust. Place the oiled side down on the grill--this side that is down will eventually be the "top" of the pizza. Grill on high heat for 3 minutes and then give the dough a 1/4 turn, grill for another 3 minutes. Watch the dough because, depending on your heat, this may be too long. Do not let the crust burn.
When the first side is ready to turn, quickly apply some olive oil to the top (what will be the bottom) of the dough. Flip the dough and immediately put on the chopped mozzerela cheese and zuchinironi. Once they are in place, drizzle the nice-n-hot pizza sauce on top. Close the grill cover and cook for 2 minutes.
After 2 minutes, quickly open the grill cover and give the pizza a 1/4 turn. Immediately close the grill cover and cook for another 2 minutes.
Check and see if the cheese has melted. If not, move the pizza to a cool spot on the grill so that it does not take any more direct heat and let it continue to cook in the covered grill until done.
Now comes the hardest part ever: Remove from the grill and let it rest under aluminum foil for 3-5 minutes. It will cut much easier that way and the flavors will come together better.
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