Labor Day weekend is one of the biggest grilling weekends of the year, and if you want a break from the burgers and hot dogs, impress your guests with this recipe for grilled pizza.  It's easy!

I've been making this grilled pizza recipe for a long time, and I'm addicted so I thought I'd share.  This pizza love affair started several years ago when I bought a Weber grill and it came with a recipe book full of things to put on the grates besides the usual burgers and things.  This pizza recipe was one of them, and it's tweak-able so we can insert our own shortcuts and favorites.

GRILLED PIZZA

For the dough:  You can make it from scratch with warm water, yeast, and flour, but it's so much easier just to buy it at the store.  Any store-bought dough will work, as long as it's stretchy.  Just make sure you get it out of the fridge and let it rest about 30 minutes before you're ready to grill.

Sauce:  You choose.  It could be olive oil and garlic salt, tomato sauce, or no sauce at all.

Toppings:  Again, you choose.  My daughters love strips of bacon with a few cherry tomatoes and a sprinkling of mozzarella cheese and fresh basil.  You could do pepperoni and cheese, sausage, veggie, pesto, and tomato, or anything you want.  Just make sure any meat is cooked before you add it to the pizza crust at the grill.

And that leads to an essential tip!  Make sure all of the ingredients are chopped or cooked and neatly piled up on a cutting board, and ready to go before you put the crust on the grill.  Once the crust is on the grates, the timing has to be just right and you've got to be quick about the assembly process.  Prep in the kitchen will reduce stress at the grill.

Grilling the crust:  Let the grill heat up for about 10 minutes to 375-400 degrees, with the burners on medium. Stretch out the pizza crust into an imperfect rectangle because it's better if it looks a little rustic, press it into a little cornmeal so it won't stick, and put the crust on the grill grates.  Close the lid and let it cook for 5-7 minutes, then flip it.  Once it's flipped, add the toppings right away and close the lid again.  Bake the pizza until the base scoots easily across the grates which could be 5 to 14 minutes.

Grilled pizza is so good!  And on this big grilling weekend, it gives us an alternative to the steaks, ribs, burgers, and hot dogs.  Add a fun beverage, and you won't want to leave the backyard.

Have a great weekend!

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