Dad's Grilled Pizza

No one who's ever eaten this pizza has failed to fall madly in love with it. The original recipe is from Bon Appetit, 1997, but has been altered! (Most notably, goat cheese has been removed & sweet Italian sausage has been substituted for spicy.)

Dough

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

Combine water and sugar in a food processor. Sprinkle yeast over; let stand until foamy, about 10 minutes. Add 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 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 or a rectangular shape which I think is easier to cook on the grill. To prevent the dough from sticking as you stretch it, use flour sparingly; too much will result in a tough crust.

Toppings

• 3/4 cup olive oil
• 6 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 3 tablespoons minced garlic
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary
• 1 pound sweet 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

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.

Final preparation

• 2 cups grated mozzarella cheese
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• 4 plum tomatoes, halved, seeded, chopped (optional)
  

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 / rectangles. Sprinkle each with 1/4 of mozzarella and Parmesan. Top each with 1/4 of sausage, peppers and onion, then with tomatoes. Drizzle each with 1 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. Transfer to plates. Repeat grilling for remaining 2 pizzas.