This summer, Manatee and I are planning to frequent a new hangout in the area. It’s convenient, it’s casual, and the food is free. Kids are welcome but so are baby monitors.

Yes, we plan to make our deck the new neighborhood bar.

Neither of us would ever boast to be grill masters. Okay, so Manatee may tell you that he is, but if you would catch my eye during that confession, you would see me frantically yet discreetly shaking my head at you. We both have a lot to learn. Don’t let him fool you.

We decided to start that education this past weekend by grilling pizza.

I am not going to lie, if I had not gone public on the Facebook page, I may have nixed the whole idea.

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For someone who loves to cook and blogs about food, I can be a bit of a scaredy cat when it comes to new things, particularly when I am hungry, and overwhelmed by a recent hospital tour. Let’s back up a little bit….

Why You Shouldn’t Do the Hospital Tour When You Are Over 8 Months Pregnant

As I waddled through triage, the birthing suites, and the postpartum rooms, I could feel my anxiety rising. I was surrounded by women with miniscule baby bumps due in late summer. They thought the hospital tour was fun! Exciting! Informative! With my baby mountain belly eclipsing my feet and lower extremities, I thought the hospital tour was terrifying! Claustrophobic! Vague!

Manatee was already plotting his escape, “Can I bring running stuff to the hospital?” I was wondering the same thing.

When we got home, we were both hungry and tired. I wasn’t so sure about this whole grilling pizza thing, but I was encouraged by the tips on the Facebook page, so I bit the bullet and decided to try it.

Grilling Pizza 101

Here are some tips that I picked up from you and the world wide web that worked really well.

Smaller pizzas are easier to handle than one big pizza.

grilled pizza 1

 

Preheat the grill at medium heat for up to 30 minutes before you start. We didn’t do a lot of preheating, and I kind of regret it. Next time, I would preheat between 20-30 minutes versus the 5 minutes we did.

Keep the lid down as much as possible when preheating and cooking the pizzas. I was a little too quick to peak.

Cook over indirect heat. We heated the right side of the grill, but cooked the pizzas on the left side.

If using raw crust, brush the dough liberally with olive oil and cook for 2-3 minutes until there are grill marks. While it is cooking, brush the other side with olive oil. Flip the dough and top with toppings.

About those toppings, have toppings next to the grill and ready to go.

grilled pizza 3

Assemble those toppings fast! If you are concerned about it taking too long, remove the pizzas from the grill, add toppings, and put them back on the grill. I kept the pizzas on the grill.

grilled pizzas 2

Cook for 4-5 minutes until cheese is melted and bubbly.

grilled pizza

Overall, we were really pleased with the results. The crust was crispy and charred (in a good way). The toppings were hot and melty, and the best part: no hot kitchens or ovens. We will definitely be doing this again!

 

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What are you going to be grilling over Memorial Day weekend?