So, we had grilled pizzas cooked by my brother-in-law a while ago. They were so good that I decided wwe had to try it. We finally got around to it tonight.
Unfortunately, I didn't think to take photos of the whole process. However, this was the first time I have rolled out any type of dough on my zinc counters. They were great; I just threw a little flour down and no problems. I should probably add that I am really not a baker, so I was thrilled that this went so well.
The zinc counters are very different. They change appearance every time food spills on them because acid colors them. So they are slightly mottled all the time. That works for me, though. And they are historically accurate for a hundred year old bungalow like ours. Plus zinc is antibacterial. Which is why they were used for bartops at oyster bars. Here they are sprinkled with flour from rolling out the pizza crust.
We made one pizza with pesto, fresh tomatoes, and mozzarella. Before adding the toppings, I rubbed a smashed garlic clove over the crust. Here it is on the grill.
After the grill, we put it in the oven for a few minutes to brown the cheese. Here it's on the ironwood pizza peel that I gave my husband. Isn't it lovely? The pizza, I mean.
This is the potential masterpiece! Our fig tree is producing abundantly, so we made fig pizza. I brushed olive oil on the crust, then sprinkled it with herbes de Provence and sea salt. I sliced the figs into wedges and spread them on the crust. Finally I put lumps of goat cheese all over.
If you decide to try this, I would definitely recommend the crumbled goat cheese - my hands were a sticky mess! Especially bad because I am slightly OCD and cannot stand to have 'oogie' hands.
Here it is on the grill...
And here it is after browning.
Now for my opinion of our first attempt. I think I was too worried about overwhelming the relatively thin crust with too much stuff on top. The tomato pizza needed more pesto, but the tomatoes and mozzarella were fine.
The fig pizza was delicious but needed more of everything! That's why I said it was the potential masterpiece. More herbes de Provence, more figs and more goat cheese. I think I was worried that the figs would be too sweet, but they wren't at all. And goat cheese has such a distinctive flavor that I skimped on it - mistake! Also, I think I would add a little mozzarella. I can't wait to try it again, though.
I love the rustic look of the grilled pizzas with the hand rolled crusts. They would be gorgeous to serve for guests.
