Through a Glass, Darkly

This recipe is taken from How to Grill by Steven Raichlen.

For the dough:
1 envelope active dry yeast (2 1/2 teaspoons)
1 teaspoon sugar
1 1/4 cups warm water
3 1/2 cups unbleached white flour, or more if necessary (or, you know, WHATEVER YOU HAVE IF YOU FORGOT TO CHECK HOW MUCH FLOUR YOU HAD)
1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt
About 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

Whatever you want for your toppings.

I made the dough in the mixer. You can do it in the food processor, but my food processor is not big enough.

1. Place the yeast, sugar, and water in the mixer bowl (fitted with a dough hook). When foamy, add 2 tablespoons oil, and the salt and flour. Mix at low speed to form a smooth, soft dough.

2. Turn the dough out onto a work surface and knead it by hand for a few minutes. Lightly coat a large bowl with the remaining oil. Place the dough in the bowl, turning it to coat with oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the dough rise in a warm spot until doubled in bulk, 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

3. Punch down the dough and let rise until doubled in bulk again, 1 hour. This second rising isn’t imperative, but your crust will be lighter if you have time to do it.

4. Prepare your toppings.

5. Set up the grill for three-zone direct grilling. (I have no idea what this means. Mike says: “High. Medium. Low. Three different zones. Three different temperatures. Three different flame sizes.” Got it? He adds, “My three zones were high, low, off.”) Preheat the hot zone to high. When ready to cook, brush and oil grill gate.

6. Generously oil two rimmed baking sheets. Place half the dough on one of the baking sheets and stretch it out to form a 9×13 inch rectangle that is 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick. Repeat with the remaining dough and cover it with plastic wrap. IT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO GET THE DOUGH THIN. This is where we have made mistakes in the past. Otherwise it is not very good pizza crust.

7. Starting from the far narrow side and using both hands, gently lift the first dough rectangle and drape it onto the grate over the hottest part of the fire. Within a minute or so, the underside of the dough will crisp and darken and the top will puff slightly. Using tongs and a spatula, slide the dough to a cooler part of the grill and cook until the bottom of the dough is browned and firm, 3 to 5 minutes. Brush the uncooked top with oil.

8. Using tongs and a spatula, invert the crust over a hotter part of the fire. Grill until this side, too, starts to crisp and darken, about 1 minute. Move the crust back to a cooler part of the grill and brush the top with oil. Arrange the toppings and move the crust to the low (or “off”) part of the grill, letting the indirect heat warm the toppings and melt the cheese. This way the flame does not burn the bottom.

This recipe makes 2 pizzas, 9×13 each. Serves 2 as a main course, 4 as an appetizer.