Radio New Zealand - Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa

Barbequed Pizza

Chef: Julie Biuso as heard on Afternoons Saturday 14 November 2009

Tags: bbq, pizza

Pizza on the barbecue - if you don't have a pizza oven, this is the way to go. You'll get a crispier base browning it on the barbecue grill than cooking it in the oven. If you want to make meatless pizzas, substitute grilled artichokes for the chorizo or sausages.

Time to prep 20 minutes
Time to cook 40 minutes

(Makes 4)

Ingredients

Tomato sauce

• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
• 1 x 400g can Italian tomatoes, crushed
• salt and freshly ground black pepper

Pizza

• 3 fresh chorizo sausages or 3-4 small free-range pork and fennel-seed flavoured sausages or 1 x 400g jar grilled artichoke hearts in oil
• olive oil
• 4 uncooked pizza bases
• extra virgin olive oil
• coarse semolina or polenta
• 1/2 cup shaved parmesan cheese
• 1 cup basil leaves
• 250g buffalo or cow's milk mozzarella, drained
• and mopped dry
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• handful of rocket leaves, trimmed
• small wedge of parmesan cheese for shaving

Method

Make the sauce first. Put the oil and garlic in a small saucepan over medium heat. Let garlic take on a little colour, then add the tomatoes. Bring to a gentle boil, season with 1/4 teaspoon salt and a little pepper, then lower the heat and cook gently for 10 minutes.

If making meat pizzas, slice chorizo or sausages and fry in a little hot oil. If using artichokes, drain well, mop with paper towels and slice thinly. 

Brush one side of the pizza bases with extra virgin olive oil. Cook over a preheated barbecue grill rack over low-medium heat for 4-5 minutes until lightly charred; put the bases straight on the rack. Transfer to a baking sheet using tongs. Brown all the bases before cooking the first pizza.

Assemble one pizza at a time and while it is cooking, assemble the next one. Flip pizza base over onto a piece of baking paper or a pizza peel sprinkled with coarse semolina or polenta to prevent sticking so that the grilled side is facing up. Scatter pizza with a little cheese, then put on dollops of tomato sauce. Arrange cooked meat or sliced artichokes on top, then basil and mozzarella. Season with a little salt and pepper.

Slide pizza back onto the hot barbecue grill rack and cook for about 5 minutes, until the underside is nicely browned. Transfer pizza to a baking sheet and brown the top under a hot grill, cooking until cheese is melted. Alternatively, if you are cooking on a hooded barbecue, cook the assembled pizza with the hood down. The heat probably won't be sufficient to brown the cheese, but it will melt it.

Strew a little rocket over the top of the cooked pizza and add a few shavings of parmesan cheese and serve immediately.

Go to juliebiuso.com for a video clip of Julie demonstrating this recipe.