What’s on the Grill #128

Leftover Pizza Night!  Or more specifically, pizza made from leftovers!  The impetus for this entire thing started with this post by Dave over at Weber_Cam.

Some weeknight, I'm going to make a 12" pizza with nice bubbles and a beautiful airy crust. If you want to follow along, put 2 cups flour, 1 cup water, 1/2 t dry yeast (any kind) and 1 t salt (regular or 1.5 t kosher) in a container, mix into a ball, don't bother kneading and toss in the fridge until about Tuesday night. It's gonna be awesome.

Well as things tend to go, as in “not according to plan”, I missed Dave’s update until Thursday.  It turns out he was not happy with his results and better yet, I still had a bowl of dough sitting in the fridge.  I decided to let it right and over the weekend I let the dough sit out one night.  I then punched it down and placed it back in the fridge the next morning.  Tonight (Monday) I decided “what the hell” and put it to use.

The dough was really springy, and I had a hard time pounding it out (Be sure to check out Dave’s video).  I think each pie was only about 8 inches in diameter when it was all said and done.  For the toppings, I used the leftovers from last night: sausage, onion, pepper on top of a base of mayonnaise (yes, mayo…trust me on this).  For the other pie, I used pesto, pancetta, prosciutto, and feta cheese.

The only downside of the night was when my “pizza stone” cracked on the grill.  It has had a fissure forming for some time and tonight was the stone’s final journey.  Fear not though, it was only a natural stone tile and I got it from Lowe’s.  I will soon have another.

I love Dave’s use of parchment paper under the pizzas.  I went with the paper route and steered away from the screen that I have so come to depend on. 

While in the grill, the pizzas puffed up like the Stay-Puff Marshmallow Man.  This is out of ignorance, but I am guessing it must be a product of the incredible long proofing time.  The results were great.  The dough was unlike anything I have ever made before. 

Now there is no way I can plan pizzas a week in advance.  However, I can stay tuned to Dave and see whatever he cooks up next.  Now just to put that baguette pan to use that Dave and Andrew always talk about….