Although I grew up in a family pizzeria, I never really attempted to make my own pizza at home for some reason. I’ve watched my dad make probably a million pies over the years, you would think I would know what to do with my eyes closed. But honestly, it wasn’t until my Grown Folks Pizza and Ice Cream Social that I started to feel comfortable working with dough. Once I saw my friend Dan toss a disc of pizza dough in the air, I decided that I am going to have to step it up and carry on the pizza making tradition in the family. So I’ve been practicing. And it’s been fun.

Now that I’ve got the dough handling down, I wanted to try something new. Grilled Pizza. I have heard about it in blogosphere and even watched an episode on it on Grill It With Bobby Flay the other day. But honestly, the thought of it kinda made me nervous.

I’m here to tell you…don’t be scared to try this. I was so excited about how my first grilled pizza turned out that I can not wait to make it again! The crust is so crisp that you won’t believe you had a part in making it.

Now, I did encounter a slight obstacle while cooking my pizza on the grill. I started off by grilling up the bottom of the pizza so that it would be easier to handle when adding the toppings. I then took the parcooked dough of the grill, added the toppings, placed back on the hot grill rack, and pulled down the cover (all with the help of my sister in law, her husband and a glass of pinot grigio!). The top of the pizza didn’t cook up as quickly as I thought it would so to avoid the risk of burning the bottom of the pizza, we put it under the broiler in the oven for a bit to finish it off. We weren’t disappointed in the results at all…though I am wondering how I could have cooked that entire pizza on the grill without burning it. Bobby (Flay) grilled up both sides of the pizza before adding any toppings, so I will try that next time. Any advice out there?? Please share…

This pizza did turn out delicious, between the wonderfully light and crispy crust and the fresh toppings it was no doubt a winner. This pizza recipe has been featured before in my Foodbuzz 24 post, but it was so good that I had to share with you again!

Oh and P.S….

…one of my recipes is a finalist in MyRecipes’ Who Makes the Best Summer Dessert? contest! Please go check it out here and vote for your favorite!! Voting ends Thursday, July 23!

I wish I could tell you that the veggies on this pizza came from my garden…they didn’t, but I am hoping that later this summer I can say they did. I will tell you though, the spring onions I used did come from my grandfather’s garden, it was part of the inspiration for this pizza, so the name does work.

I have been buying a ton of zucchini and squash lately, it’s been looking so good at the market that I haven’t been able to resist. Sometimes I buy a little too much and and before it gets too sad looking I have to scramble to figure out something creative to cook with it. I created this pizza one night a couple of weeks ago playing the “use it up” game that I so often play, and we have made it 3 times since. And I wasn’t the only one requesting it.

This pizza is stacked. And boy is it good. And for those of you who like meat on their pizza…no worries, it’s in there, somewhere.

In case you haven’t heard…

Congrats to the ORLANDO MAGIC for
becoming our 2009 Eastern Conference Champs!

We are so excited to see our team in the Finals!! Good luck to Dwight and the team!!

How did I get so lucky??

Foodbuzz’s 24, 24, 24 … that’s how. This month, I sent in my idea of having a grown up pizza and ice cream party to the nice folks over at Foodbuzz and they accepted it! This idea came to me pretty naturally…if you know me, you know I grew up around pizza. My parents have owned a pizzeria since I was 4 years old. I’ve seen more pizza than you can imagine. No kidding. The idea also came to me after realizing that most of the time lately, eating pizza has become more of a kid friendly event for us. As parents of little ones…pizza and ice cream parties are a big part of our social scene. So why not treat us, the parents, the adults, to something just a little more fun and a little more delicious?

It all started with a planning session…I reached out to my girls…my fellow foodie friends – and of course spouses – to come up with a few ideas for some great pizzas and ice cream flavors. They came through with awesome stuff, as I knew they would. So once the menu was set, we all gathered in Aggie’s Kitchen on a sunny Saturday afternoon in Florida – fruity white sangria in hand – and pulled together a fun feast for all … (kids included of course!).

First things first. Let’s get the beverages ready…

Allison’s Sangria

2 – 750ml bottles of wine (red or white)
1 cup of rum or brandy
1 cup of triple sec or orange liquor
2/3 cup of orange juice
6 oz. of lemonade concentrate

4 cups of ginger ale
Orange, lemon, lime slices for garnish
Additional chopped fruit, optional

Combine wine, rum/brandy, triple sec, orange juice and lemonade concentrate
- and refrigerate for 2 hours – or – overnight. Right before you serve -
add the ginger ale and fruit.

Now it’s time to work…little did everyone know…this was a working party. We were abundantly staffed with lots of hands to do lots of slicing, dicing and chopping.

(Allison the prep cook…)

We made sure to really treat ourselves right by using quality ingredients such as…
Prosciutto de Parma, Genoa Salami, fresh picked basil from the garden, homemade roasted red peppers, Fig Balsamico Dressing made at a local restaurant and fresh Mexican Chorizo. All of the pizza dough was fresh and picked up from my Publix bakery.

On to making the pizza …

(the pizza making station… all you need is a clean counter, olive oil, flour and a pizza stone)

(And to our pleasant surprise…Dan actually knew what he was doing!)

(The Master and his Apprentice…)

(This is where it all started…)


(The assembly line…)

And now…the delicious creations of the day!

Larry’s Italian Stallion Pizza:

Tomato Sauce
Mozzarella Cheese
Prosciutto de Parma, chopped
Genoa Salami, chopped
Roasted Red Peppers
Asiago Cheese shavings
Fresh Basil

(Larry enjoying his creation…with friends.)

Allison’s Harmoni Special Pizza:

Fig Balsamic Preserves from Harmoni Artisan Meal Market
Cooked Crumbled Bacon
Sliced Tomatoes
Crumbled Blue Cheese

Dan’s Mexican Pizza:

Tomato Sauce
Shredded Mexican Cheese
crumbled Mexican Chorizo sausage
Fresh Toppings: shredded lettuce, chopped tomatoes and chopped onions

Rocky’s Spinach Alfredo Pizza:

Spinach White Cream Sauce – melt 2-4 tb butter in saucepan over medium heat. Stir in 2 tb of flour into butter, cook for 1-2 minutes. Add 2 cups half and half to butter mixture. Add dash of salt, pepper, and fresh ground nutmeg to cream. Bring to a simmer, continually stirring to avoid bottom of pan burning. Simmer for few minutes until sauce starts to thicken. Take sauce off heat and bring to room temperature. Add 8oz thawed chopped frozen spinach to sauce.
Parmesan Cheese
Mozzarella Cheese

The perfect ending to the fantastic meal was freshly homemade ice cream.

Coconut Lime Crunch Ice Cream
Recipe adapted from 125 Best Ice Cream Recipes

1 can (15 oz) coconut cream
1 1/2 whipping cream
1 cup milk
1/2 cup sweetened flaked coconut
zest from 2 limes
graham crackers, broken

In a blender or food processor, puree coconut cream, whipping cream, milk, flaked coconut and lime zest until thoroughly blended.

Transfer ice cream maker and freeze according to manufacturer’s instructions. Add broken graham crackers to ice cream mixture about 5 minutes before ice cream is done. Transfer ice cream to an air tight container and freeze for 1 hour before serving.

(the lime zest added such a refreshing flavor to an unbelievably creamy coconut ice cream)

Dulce de Leche Ice Cream
Recipe from Smitten Kitchen

(We used Christina’s homemade Dulce de Leche for the recipe…)

2 cups whole milk
1 cup heavy cream
1 pound dulce de leche (about 1 2/3 cups) (learn how to make your own)
1/8 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup chopped pecans (2 1/2 to 3 oz), toasted (optional)

Bring milk and cream just to a boil in a 3-quart heavy saucepan over moderate heat, then remove from heat and whisk in dulce de leche until dissolved. Whisk in vanilla and transfer to a metal bowl. Quick-chill by putting bowl in a larger bowl of ice and cold water and stirring occasionally until cold, 15 to 20 minutes.

Freeze mixture in ice cream maker until almost firm, then fold in pecans if using them.

Transfer ice cream to an airtight container and put in freezer to harden, at least 1 hour.

Cheers!

Thank you to everyone involved for a great time!