Grilled Pizza

So last night Nathan & I discovered our favorite new use of the grill: pizza. We had a triple date with Marie & Jared and Sarah & Lauren. I made a bunch of dough beforehand, and we grilled the pizzas together outside, tossing toppings on as we saw fit: fresh basil & rosemary, mozzarella, Parmesan, oil-soaked zucchini & squash, and spinach. Lauren & Nathan handled the grill, and they grilled each pizza to perfection. Magical. And for dessert? Grilled peaches with a baked crumble topping & vanilla ice cream. Again, magical.

Nathan & I loved the grilled pizzas so much that we decided to go for round 2 tonight. After a fun park date--Nathan & Cohen at the dog park while I met my friend Heather for yoga in the park--we headed home for more pizza!

I used a simpler recipe for dough than in the past, opting this time for a dough that has a shorter rising time (only an hour). When grilling pizzas, the dough doesn't need to be too special or flavorful because the grill will make it perfectly crisp and delicious. It's impressive how fast pizza cooks on the grill. You actually have to be pretty quick to keep up! After grilling one side of the dough, it gets a flip, and then the toppings have to be added super quickly so the cheese will melt before the other side of the dough cooks. It's a pretty exciting process.

And the end result? It's seriously the most delicious thing ever. YUM.

All that to say, I highly recommend buying a grill solely for the purpose of grilling pizzas. I was honestly a bit nervous that we wouldn't get enough use out of our grill, being that we're both vegetarian. But it has turned into one of my favorite things about the summer. It's a great way to cook without heating up the whole kitchen & using a ton of electricity, plus it gives us an excuse to be outside and a fun activity to share together. I like food that is as enjoyable in the process as it is in the finished product, and grilling is a great way to achieve this.

Oh summer, how I love thee.