Pizza, one America's most popular foods, takes on a whole new flavor when prepared over live coals and exposed to hardwood smoke. Pizza made with traditional toppings on pita bread and prepared on your outdoor Weber charcoal grill takes only a few minutes of preparation and cooks faster than traditional oven baking -- with twice the flavor. Grilled pizza also is a better conversation piece for parties and cookouts than traditional grilled dishes, such as hot dogs or hamburgers, and the multitude of possible toppings makes them a pleaser of many palates.
Preparation
Step 1
Place the hickory chips in the small plastic bowl, and fill the bowl with enough water to either float or submerge the wood. Soak the wood until grilling time, because wet wood creates more smoke, which imparts more flavor to the pizzas.
Step 2
Open all grill vents wide for maximum airflow, and open or remove the grill lid, depending the make and model. Remove and set aside the cooking grate.
Step 3
Fill the chimney starter's upper chamber with charcoal, and crumple the two sheets of newspaper into the lower chamber. Place the starter in the center of coal grate inside the grill, and light the newspaper through the vents at the bottom of the starter's lower chamber.
Step 4
Allow the chimney starter about 20 minutes for the coals to fully ignite before cooking.
Grilling
Step 1
Place the pita bread pieces in a single layer on the metal baking sheet, and spoon 2 to 3 tbsp. of pizza sauce on top of each one. Spread the sauce around with a spoon until all the tops are covered in sauce.
Step 2
Sprinkle the shredded mozzarella over each pizza, obscuring the sauce with a layer of cheese. Place the meat and thin green pepper slices on each pizza, and finish off with a sprinkle of oregano and grated Parmesan cheese to taste.
Step 3
Dump the lit coals into a single layer on the coal grate, covering about two-thirds of the grate and leaving a third of the coal grate coal-free.
Step 4
Fold the paper towel several times into a small square -- about 2 inches by 2 inches -- and dip it in vegetable oil. Grasp the oiled paper towel with long-handled grilling tongs, and drag it across all surfaces of the cooking grate, lubricating it.
Step 5
Place the pizzas on the cooking grate, using a broad grilling spatula. Arrange the pizzas in a circle along the outside edges of the grate -- leaving an open space above the coal-free area of the grill. Close the lid.
Step 6
Wait about five minutes, then open the grill and rotate the pizzas around the grill, situating pieces that appear to be cooking faster on the coal-free zone and pieces that aren't as brown or melted above the hotter coals.
Step 7
Close the lid and wait another few minutes. Remove the pizzas to a serving platter when they are slightly browned on top with all cheese melted.
Tips and Warnings
- Lubricate the grill grate, not the bottom of the pizzas themselves. Oil-saturated pita bread catches fire in charcoal grills, charring it and ruining the flavor. Pita bread pizzas on the Weber should be slightly browned, not blackened. Use natural lump charcoal, rather than briquettes, to impart a wood-fired flavor into your pizzas.
- Always wear protective grilling gloves or mitts when handling hot grill lids, vents and charcoal chimney starters.
Things You'll Need
- 2 handfuls hickory wood chips
- Small plastic bowl
- Weber charcoal kettle grill
- Natural lump hardwood charcoal
- Charcoal chimney starter
- 2 full sheets newspaper
- Long grill lighter
- Large metal baking sheet
- 4 to 5 circles of pita bread
- 1 can pizza sauce
- 1 lb. shredded mozzarella cheese
- 1 green pepper, sliced thin
- Precooked meat topping of choice
- Dried oregano
- Grated Parmesan
- Paper towel
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- Long-handled grilling tongs
- Broad grilling spatula
- Large serving platter
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