Grilled Chicken Caprese Pizza

The grill is not just for steaks and burgers.

If you are one of the lucky ones with a dedicated wood-fired pizza oven, then this might not be for you, but if you need a break from the mundane and want a restaurant quality pizza at home, by all means give this a try. With pizzas the toppings are whatever you can envision, so the trick here is the crust! Get that right, and you get a crisp, grill-marked flavorful crust tailor made for a summer night!

INGREDIENTS

Grilled Crust:

• 3 cups of bread flour or All Purpose Flour, plus more to roll out dough with

  • Be sure to spoon and level your flour, never scoop with your measuring cup!

• 1 tablespoon baking powder

• ¾ teaspoon salt

• ¾ teaspoon garlic powder

• ¾ teaspoon paprika

• 12 ounce light beer (room temp)

Toppings

• Olive oil

• Pizza sauce

• Fresh tomatoes, sliced

• Cooked chicken, sliced

• Fresh basil

• Whole mozzarella cheese, sliced

• Shredded mozzarella cheese

• Balsamic reduction (optional)

INSTRUCTIONS

TO MAKE/GRILL THE DOUGH:

1. In a large bowl, mix together flour, baking powder & spices. With a wooden spoon stir in beer and mix until a sticky dough forms.

2. Dust your hands and work surface generously with extra flour. Knead dough until it is smooth and elastic, and barley sticks to your hands. You may need to keep adding flour. Add a ½ tablespoon at a time so not to dry out your dough.

3. Add back to a clean bowl and let rest, covered for 15-60mins

4. When ready, divide your dough into two crusts

5. Pre heat your grill

6. Roll and stretch the dough on to an oiled piece of wax paper. It is helpful if the wax paper is on a cutting board so you can easily move to your grill!

7. Brush dough top with olive oil

8. When ready to grill, flip dough on to grill grates, and peel off the wax paper

9. Grill one side for 5 mins, watch the crust, as it will go fast depending on how hot your grill is. This side will be the “top” of your pizza crust. You will be able to flip it without it sticking when it is ready.

10. Flip and grill the other side for another 5 mins. This will be the bottom of the crust, so be sure not to over cook, as you will be putting it back on the grill with the toppings.

11. Remove from grill and bring inside to assemble your toppings

ASSEMBLE THE PIZZA:

1. Spread crust with pizza sauce then shredded mozzarella

2. Add chicken, tomatoes, mozzarella slices, basil, and drizzle with olive oil

3. Adjust heat on grill to low

4. Slide assembled pizza back on to grill. Grill for 5 to 6 mins on low, then turn off heat, keeping grill cover closed so that cheese can melt.

5. Remove when melted, add a few more pieces of fresh basil, drizzle with balsamic and enjoy!