This is a fun tailgating or summer recipe. Pretty easy. Prep at home and bring to the ballpark.
Container: grill, gas or charcoal, and ideally a food processor
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Serving Description: varies
Ingredients
- 1 cup warm water
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon dry yeast
- 2 tablespoons olive oil, more as needed
- 2 cups flour, preferably bread flour, plus more as needed
- 1/3 cup corn meal
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon crumbled dried herbs or garlic powder, optional
Dissolve sugar in warm water and sprinkle yeast on top. (If using instant yeast, add it to the dry ingredients.) Let stand until yeast is foamy, about 10 minutes.
In food processor (use steel blade) combine flour, corn meal, and salt, plus dried herbs or garlic powder, if using. Pulse to blend.
Add olive oil to the yeast liquid, stir well to get any yeast that may have settled to the bottom, and with the machine running, add to the dry ingredients. Pulse until well mixed, and dough forms a sticky ball. If dough is too wet to form a ball, add more flour a tablespoon or two at a time; if it's so dry that it's not sticky, add more water a tablespoon at a time. Pulse briefly after each addition.
Scrape dough out onto lightly floured surface and knead into a ball. Cover with a damp cloth or plastic wrap and let rise until doubled. This will take about an hour in a warm place (see TIP) or longer at room temperature.
When ready to cook, have prepared toppings at hand. Heat grill or start charcoal. Briefly knead the dough, cut into desired number of pieces, and shape into balls. This amount of dough will make four 9-10 inch, six 7-8 inch, or eight 6 inch crusts. On a floured surface, roll the balls to about 1/8 inch thick, as even in thickness as possible. Spread out flat or stack between sheets of parchment paper or flour-dusted waxed paper.
When grill is ready, lightly brush one side of crust with olive oil and grill, oiled side down until firm and a bit browned, several minutes. Turn, quickly add toppings, cover grill, and cook until crust is crisp; this may take from 2-6 minutes depending on grill temperature and crust thickness. Watch closely to prevent burning.
Serve immediately.
TIP: to make a warm place to speed dough rising, microwave a large glass of water for 2 minutes. Leave the glass in the microwave and put in the covered bowl of dough. To make dough a day ahead, cover and refrigerate. Bring to room temperature before forming crusts.
