Angela's Italian Recipe for Grilled Pizza with Spicy Italian Sausage

Grilled Pizza with Spicy Italian Sausage
(Grigliate di Pizza con Salsiccia Piccante)


Ingredients:

For the Dough:
1 cup warm water (105°F to 115°F)
1 tablespoon sugar
1 envelope dry yeast
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
3 cups (or more) all purpose flour
1 and 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary

Directions:

Combine water and sugar in a food processor.

Sprinkle yeast over; let stand until foamy, about 10 minutes.

Add olive oil, then 3 cups flour and salt.

Process until dough comes together, about 1 minute. Turn dough out onto floured work surface. Sprinkle with rosemary. Knead until dough is smooth and elastic, adding more flour by tablespoonfuls if dough is sticky, about 5 minutes. Lightly oil large bowl. Add dough; turn to coat with olive oil. Cover bowl with plastic, then towel. Let stand in warm draft-free area until dough doubles, about 1 hour. To test that the dough has risen sufficiently, push two fingers into it. The depressions should remain. Punch down dough. Knead dough in bowl until smooth, about 2 minutes. Divide dough into 4 equal pieces. Stretch out each piece on floured surface to 9-inch round. To prevent the dough from sticking as you stretch it, use flour sparingly; too much will result in a tough crust.

For the Toppings:
3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
6 tbs balsamic vinegar
3 tbs minced garlic
2 tbs chopped fresh rosemary

1 lb spicy Italian sausages
2 yellow or red bell peppers, cored, lengthwise
1 large red onion, peeled, cut through root end into 1/2-inch thick wedges

Directions:

Whisk first 4 ingredients in medium bowl.

Let vinaigrette stand 15 minutes at room temperature or refrigerate up to 2 hours.

Prepare barbecue (medium heat).

Arrange sausages, peppers and onion on baking sheet.

Brush with some of vinaigrette. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Grill sausages until cooked through and peppers and onion until slightly charred and crisp-tender, turning and basting occasionally, about 12 minutes for sausages and 8 minutes for peppers and onion.

Transfer sausages and vegetables to cutting board.

Cut sausages into 1/2-inch pieces and peppers into thin strips.

For the Final Preparation:
2 cups grated mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmigiano cheese
2 cups crumbled chilled soft fresh goat cheese (such as Montrachet)
4 plum tomatoes, halved, seeded, chopped
3/4 cup chopped green onion tops

Directions:

Add coals to barbecue if necessary.

Place 2 dough rounds on grill.

Grill over medium heat until top of dough puffs and underside is crisp, about 3 minutes.

Turn rounds over. Grill 1 minute.

Transfer to baking sheet with well-grilled side up. This side of the dough becomes the surface that will hold the toppings.

Repeat with the remaining 2 dough rounds.

Sprinkle each with 1/4 of mozzarella and Parmigiano cheese. Top each with 1/4 of sausage, peppers and onion, then with 1/4 of goat cheese, tomatoes and green onions.

Drizzle each with 1 and 1/2 teaspoons vinaigrette. Using large metal spatula, return 2 pizzas to grill. Close grill or cover pizzas loosely with foil. Grill until cheeses melt and dough is cooked through and browned, using tongs to rotate pizzas for transfer to plates. Repeat grilling for remaining 2 pizzas. Makes four 8-inch pizzas.