Pizza on the Grilling Stone

The Olympics are over. Congratulations to all that participated. Not just the medalists, everybody. Performing on the grand stage is phenomenal in itself. Finding the inner fortitude to compete for your country in a foreign land with all the world watching takes a more than physical strength and commitment, it takes a special kind of person. Well done!

So taking the initiative, (on a much reduced scale), I have been stretching my cooking and BBQ skills in a different direction. I’ve been utilizing my granite grills as much as I can to take the mundane to another level. My mandate, as always, is to take conventional produced meals and add some flare, smoke, and fire to them. By this day, most everyone knows what a pizza stone is and either has one or is considering one. Maybe you got one as a wedding gift and it lays dust covered in a cupboard somewhere.  Mine has been used for the aforementioned purpose, but is usually used as a diffuser for my Big Green Egg.  The new beige colour is now a deep black. That being said, my new granite grills have taken their place.

So what better meal to create on my gas BBQ other than BBQ’d Chicken Pizza?  My usual shopping included pre-made pizza dough but after some searching on the interweb thingy I found a basic, easy, dough that take no more time than prepping bread dough. In all actuality, that’s what it is.  Since I’m making fresh bread at least once a week it was an easy addition to my standard set of tools! When you’re searching recipes add the word “easy” or “best” in front and see what happens!

So two chicken breasts seasoned with my basic BBQ rub and grilled over flame, sautéed onions, bacon, shredded Romano and Cheddar on top and store bought BBQ sauce as the base.  The grills were put on my gas grill and heated until they were too hot to the touch. The closed lid temperature was 500f. Now the tricky part, get them on without messing tem up too badly. The answer, parchment paper! Build your pizza on the paper and slide it on to the hot grill. 10 minutes should do it but check after 5. If you have one side that heats up more than the other, use the paper to spin them around for even cooking. As always remember, if you’re looking, you’re not cooking.

Hot stone grilling is old school in some parts of the world but new to us. North American’s like the tried and true but now with the infusion of foods and flavours from the world the tools are coming along with them.

Take some inspiration from the Olympics! Look inside and stand on the podium of your BBQ and as always, have fun with it!

Be well and eat well!

Scott Tait

The Artisanal Grill