It’s the end of the summer – are you tired of hot dogs and hamburgers on the grill? We’ve got an idea to start grilling creatively this fall:

PIZZA ON THE GRILL!

That’s right pizza! You can make your own dough, or if you want a quicker pizza making experience, pop over to your local Publix bakery for their dough. Ask any bakery worker for it if it’s not easily spotted in the Bakery.

Make sure your grill grate is scraped/cleaned. Use a paper towel to rub a little olive oil on the grate if it is very old or seems dry.

We turn the grill to high and let it pre-heat for about 10 minutes, while we assemble our masterpiece. Then turn down to medium-low for cooking.

Sauce, Toppings, Cheese, COOK!

• Place a little flour on a clean counter and form your pizza shape(s). Publix often have pre-rolled, perfectly shaped pizza doughs for a few cents more than their bagged dough.
• Design your pizza quickly. We find that the longer your pizza dough sits with sauce on it, the harder it will be to transfer to the grill or oven. If the dough starts to stick, used your hand to try to gently dust some flour underneath it.

Pro Tip: If you have a peel, try creating the pizza right on the peel for easier transfer to the grill. Dust the peel with a little flour before placing the dough on it.

• Transfer the pizza directly to the grill grate and close the lid. Let it cook for about — minutes before peeking.

If this is your first time with dough on a grill, panic may occur. Imagining all the dough will fall through the grates may lead one to aimlessly try and reposition the raw pizza. Don’t. The dough cooks quickly and sometimes it makes a bigger mess trying to “save” what doesn’t need much saving at all. Pizza on the grill may not always be a perfect circle, but that’s part of the appeal! Burn marks, mis-shaped, thumb print, topping gaps… just call it all “rustic.” 🙃 All pizza making perfection and aesthetics will be worked out in time as you make more pizzas. You’ll get there.

Some Other Grill Alternatives:

• Calzones or Strombolis – They are kind of like a pizza burritos! Roll your dough out the same way as you would for a pizza, place the toppings and cheese on half. Fold the unused half on top of the made side, and use your fingers to pinch the edges closed. Calzones are typically cheese, ham, and ricotta. Strombolis are usually more toppings and no ricotta. Both are delicious! Serve with the sauce on the side.
• Dessert Pizza – Try Nutella as the “sauce,” then as the toppings: white chocolate chips, strawberries, blueberries, and bananas.
• Cherry Turnovers – Use crescent rolls and cherry pie filling to create little calzones. Use a fork to pinch the edges closed. Place them on a grilling sheet, or put a piece of foil down on the grill grate to cook them. Peek after about 2 minutes. Flip.
• Party S’mores – You create a little s’more sandwich ahead of time, wrap it in foil, then pop them all on the grill at the same time. Place a graham cracker square on a piece of foil. Use Nutella or a like topping to “butter” the cracker, then stick large marshmallows to it. Add a square of chocolate. Top your s’more sandwich with another graham cracker square. Fold the foil over to enclose the s’more and grill away. About 1 minute per side, or longer if you like them extra ooey gooey.
• Bacon Wrapped Bananas – Yup. Wrap 1/2 a banana up in a slice of bacon and throw it on the grill until the bacon is cooked. Delicious!

What kind of creative things are you cooking on the grill? Share your ideas with us on Facebook and Instagram! @DeAnnaAndCompany