Amuse Bouche

Grilled Garlic Scape Pesto Pizza

There I was trawling through my Google reader feeds when I came across the revelation.  I clicked on Dorie Greenspan and I looked up at husband and said "That's it!". He peered back over his tea with bleary what now crazy woman face. Now go look at that link, she had made a gorgeous fresh pea green garlic scape pesto.  I don't know why it had never occurred to me to use these gently garlicky tops in a pesto, but I knew I had a bag of them in my upstairs fridge just itching to be used.

I took them to work that day and using her recipe as a jumping point, I made mine with the traditional toasted pine nuts and a mix of Parmesan and Pecorino Romano cheese.  When the pesto sits for a few hours for the flavours to mingle and you taste it, there is the immediate punch of garlic and then the fresh green vegetal taste of the scapes, the garlic mellows quickly and the stuff is completely and utterly addictive.  I had no idea what I was going to do with it, but the next morning while I was picking up a few items for class at Whole Foods the idea struck.

Pizza.

I had a late night ahead of me and wouldn't get home until at least 8:00, so I did the lazy man's thing and bought one of their pre-made pizza doughs and I thought about pizza combos over the day.
When I finally got home I raided the fridge and decided on the toppings while I heated up the grill.
I had some Il Tartufo (Pecorino with Truffle) and a few other odds and ends hiding out in the cheese drawer so I grated them fine, I tore up a few fresh mozzarella balls, sliced some sun-dried tomatoes in olive oil and sliced a few tissue paper thin slices of guanciale that I quickly rendered in a pan to make them slightly crisp like bacon.  I pulled my dough into shape and got a big spatula ready.
When the grill was screaming hot I poured some canola in a bowl and dipped in a paper towel and using tongs I ran this over the grill grates.  Once the oil dries I did it a second, third, and forth time.  I read this tip in Cooks illustrated and it really does help to make it non-stick like seasoning a cast iron pan.

I plopped the dough onto the grill and after a minute I started sliding my large thin metal spatula under the edges to loosen it, after another 30 - 40 seconds I flipped the dough and gave the second side the same treatment.  You are just setting the dough at this point.

I slid it off the grill onto a sheet pan and put on the toppings, leaving the cheese off until it was in place on the grill.

I carefully slid it back on the grill and put on the cheese, turned the heat down and capped it with the sheet pan.  My indoor grill has a flat lid, not a domed one, so I have to come up with tricks to cover things.

Every few seconds I would peek to see if it was ready.
The heat under it is low so the crust doesn't get killed, but the toppings get enough heat to finish melting and the dough finishes cooking through. After  1 - 2 minutes I slid it off onto a board and dinner was done.

Food fast, not fast food.  The rest of that pesto is tucked in the freezer to stop me from sticking a spoon right in.  Good stuff!  Make some now before the scapes are gone for another season. 

Grilled Pizza

Every once in a while I crave a pizza. Not your corner shop pie, but I a real could be from Italy kind of Pizza. Since I don't have a lovely stone beehive oven lurking in my kitchen corner, I make do with a pizza cooked on the grill. If the weather is nice, I do it outside on my weber kettle grill with charcoal, and if like yesterday the weather is not so nice, I make it inside on the my gas grill. It really is a terribly easy thing to make, and if you are having a party it can really be a fun way to make appetizers or a main course.
The key to doing this is having all of the toppings for your pizza chopped, shredded and ready to go. If you are adding things that would need to cook, like the shrimp I use here, you will need to cook it ahead as well.
Cause I'm lazy and cause I can, I buy my dough at the local grocery store. They almost all sell packages of dough these days somewhere near the bakery department.

Dough:
Bring dough home. Lightly oil a bowl. Put dough in and place a very damp kitchen towel over the bowl while the dough rises. If possible, put the dough in a warmish spot.

Toppings: (clockwise)
1 Vidalia onion. Sauteed until carmelized in butter and a bit of olive oil.
I bought eight easy peel shrimp. Peeled them, Cut them in half lengthwise. Cook them until just pink, in the onion pan after the onions are cooked. Sprinkle with a bit of mixed seasoning (basil, oregano, thyme) and pepper.
I am a big fan of blonde pizza. That is pizza cooked without a red sauce. In a saute pan I heated up some extra virgin olive oil with 4 chopped cloves of garlic. Yup! 4. I likes my garlic I do.
In another exersize in laziness I used some already ground pecorino romano that I had floating around in the fridge instead of grating my own.
Fresh (very important!), fresh mozzarella balls. No excuse these days for using that hard stuff when almost everywhere carries the fresh.
Some grated asiago.
I had leftover zucchini (courgette) in the fridge from this recipe.. I reheated them in the pan after the shrimp were cooked.
The 'pasta sprinkles' were a freebie that Penzey's put in my last order. It is just the mixed herbs I mention above.

Now for the fun. I just love play food.

Heat up your grill.

Spread dough in shape of your choice on lightly oiled cookie sheet. Using a pastry brush, paint some of the oil from the garlic and oil you made above.
Place this side down on the grill.

You might think that it is going to fall through the grates. Trust me, it won't. Pay attention here, because this side will set up and begin to brown pretty quickly. Paint this side now with the oil. Using two spatulas (unless you have a fancy shmancy paddle) check the bottom for grid marks. When you see brown marks like this flip it:

Now, brush a little bit more oil, make sure you get all the crunchy garlic bits. Sprinkle with the seasonings. layer on your toppings. You like your cheese on top, put it on top, like it on the bottom? Put it on the bottom. Do this QUICK. Cause things are cooking. When all your toppings are on, sprinkle the seasonings one more time for good measure.

NOW COVER THE GRILL. Keep peeking. Your just melting your cheese here. If you think it is cooking the dough to fast you have two choices.

Gas: Shut off the gas and leave the cover on until everything is melted.

Charcoal: Take it off the grill and put it under a broiler in the oven for a few minutes.

Chop, pour a good juicy red, get lots of napkins. Enjoy. Makes excellent cold breakfast leftover pizza too....