Viva Italy! We imagine ourselves in an Italian mood and what could be more fun than preparing a delicious pizza yourself, or even better, a pizza from the barbecue. In this extensive how-to, we explain exactly how to prepare the perfect pizza every time.
Pizza has no set recipe, that’s the nice thing about it, you can vary endlessly. A vegetarian pizza, but of course you can also prepare a delicious pizza with meat or fish. There are always options for everyone.
What do you need to make pizzas?
- A kamado or a barbecue that is suitable for indirect use
- A pizza stone
- A pizza shovel
- A rolling pin
Step 1: The pizza dough
There are several ways to prepare pizza dough and also alternative pre-made ones that you can buy. Herefor you have the following options:
- get pre-made dough from the supermarket
- get pizza dough balls at the pizzeria (if you call them this is often possible)
- prepare your own pizza dough with a pre-made mix
- prepare your own pizza dough with individual ingredients
If you are going to make your own pizza dough with individual ingredients, you can use the recipe below for delicious airy dough.
Note: only use type 00 flour for the pizza dough. The difference with regular flour is that type 00 flour is finer grounded. This ultimately ensures that the dough is easier to roll out and that it provides a lighter result.
Keep in mind that this dough has to rise and you therefore need about 2 hours before you can start creating delicious pizzas.
Pizza dough
SaveIngredients
- 500 grams flour type 00
- 2 tbsp olive oil extra virgin
- 7 grams dry yeast
- 270-300 ml water slightly warm
- pinch salt
Instructions
- Grab a bowl and add all the ingredients.
- Knead the dough for 7-10 minutes until it is firm. You can also use a food processor with dough hooks for this. When is your dough ready? When it’s about as elastic as chewing gum and still sticks a little bit.
- Form the dough into a ball and place it in the bowl.
- Place a tea towel over the bowl and let the dough rise for at least 1 hour.
- The dough is ready for making balls out of it for rolling out.
Quickly preparing a pizza dough?
Don’t have the time or desire to let the dough rise for at least an hour and do you want to start creating pizzas right away? Then the next option is a perfect alternative and the result is actually not much less good.
We have also chosen to prepare pizza from a pre-made mix. We have very good experiences with the mix of La Tua Farina. This is a complete mix where the flour and yeast are already combined. You only add water, olive oil and some salt.
Then you knead it for 5-8 minutes and you basically prepare dough that you can use immediately. You can let this rise for half an hour as well, then it is a little bit lighter.
Step 2: Topping the pizza
Now the pizza bottom is made, it’s time to decorate the pizza with toppings.
What can be put on the pizza and which combinations are tasty?
As said before, you are able to combine endlessly with pizza and therefore explore for yourself what you like best. Ingredients we always like to prepare pizzas with are:
- smoked salmon (in combination with creme fraiche as a bottom cover)
- prosciutto
- mozzarella
- Parmesan cheese
- tuna (from a can in olive oil)
- bell pepper
- capers
- grated cheese
- tomato sauce
- blue cheese
- arugula
- pecorino
- mushrooms
The shopping is done, the dough is ready and the pizza is topped. It’s time to fire up the barbecue to make the pizza. Below we explain how to create the perfect pizza.
Step 3: on the barbecue
The pizza is topped, so it’s time to get started with the barbecue. That is at least as important as the dough.
We used a kamado to make the pizzas. The ceramic of the kamado ensures that the heat is well retained. Basically a kind of miniature pizza oven.
Instructions for the barbecue
- We want heat, so place enough coals in the kamado/barbecue
- Prepare the kamado/barbecue for indirect grilling
- Place the pizza stone on top of the grid for preheating
- Ensure a temperature of 250 degrees
Pizza on the grill
SaveIngredients
- flour
- pizza dough
- rolling pin
- tomato sauce
- topping ingredients
- pizza stone
- pizza shovel
Instructions
- Provide a surface on which you can roll the pizzas, a countertop or stone surface is perfect. Preferably not a wooden cutting board because the dough will easily stick to it.
- Sprinkle the surface with some flour to prevent the dough from sticking.
- Take a ball of dough that is slightly smaller than a tennis ball. First flatten the ball with the palm of your hand.
- Grab a rolling pin and roll the ball into a pizza bottom, make sure it is nice and thin.
- Cover the bottom with a layer of tomato sauce. Make sure you keep the edge about 1 cm saucefree.
- Top the pizza with the ingredients of your choice. We usually spread a small layer of grated cheese or parmesan cheese first, but it is also possible without cheese. Advise: As tempting as it may be, don’t overfill the pizza. Otherwise it is difficult to get it on the pizza shovel.
- Take the pizza shovel and rub it with some flour.
- Try to slide the pizza shovel underneath the pizza in one move. You can also pull the pizza onto the pizza shovel by moving the pizza shovel up and down. The pizza should not stick to the pizza shovel.
- Slide the pizza onto the pizza stone on the barbecue. The easiest way is to tilt the pizza shovel slightly to let the pizza slide onto the stone.
- Close the kamado or barbecue.
- A pizza needs about 5-7 minutes at 250 degrees Celsius. You can take a look every now and then. Do you want to check if the bottom does not burn? Then you can lift the pizza with the pizza shovel to have a look at the bottom.
Advice: It is sometimes said that a little bit of flour should be put on the pizza stone to prevent the pizza from sticking to the stone. In general, if the pizza stone is warm enough and you ensure that the edge of the pizza is free of sauce, this is not necessary .
A pizza will stick to the stone if the moisture from, for example, the sauce or mozzarella drips onto the pizza stone. So always make sure your stone is dry and warm!
Now that you have all the tools to create a delicious pizza from the barbecue, nothing can stop you from having a wonderful Italian evening. Invite some friends, provide a table filled with ingredients and enough pizza dough. Have a good glass of wine and we are positive you will have a wonderful Italian evening.
Would you rather have a different pizza?
Have a look at a selection of our other pizzas below:
- Pizza Margherita
- Pizza Salami
- Pizza Prosciutto with arugula and pesto
- Vegetarian pizza
- Pizza on the grill
