As it is getting warmer, it is great to gather outside at the campsite and cook pizza on the BBQ. Bring your own BBQ or why not use the BBQ at the caravan park. With these tips you will master the art of cooking pizza on the BBQ. BBQ grills mimic a wood fired oven better than your conventional indoor oven. Whether using charcoal or gas, the smoke from the grill will help give your pizza great flavour that you simply cannot get from a regular oven. It’s also quite easy!
Pizza has a long history. Flatbreads with toppings were consumed by the ancient Egyptians, Romans and Greeks. (The latter ate a version with herbs and oil, similar to today’s focaccia.) But the modern birthplace of pizza is southwestern Italy’s Campania region, home to the city of Naples. Pizza was introduced to Australia in the late 1940’s when Italians and Greeks migrated to Australia.
What you will need:
BBQ, pizza base or ingredients to make your own, if you have never tried to make your own, why not give it a go with the recipe down below. It isn’t actually rocket science and the taste is so much better – you can roll it thin or thick to your own specific liking. Base sauce , toppings, pizza cutter or large knife, board to put the cooked pizza on, paddle or large egg flip to lift the pizza on and off the BBQ. You can cook directly on the grill however we recommend a pizza stone if you like the base nice and crisp, they are cheap to invest in if you don’t have one already and last for years and years. It also helps the pizza not to stick to the grill and the toppings falling through.
Base sauce –
Traditionally most people use a tomato base sauce, however be creative, there are so many options out there to cater for all taste buds. Why not try one of the following sauces instead
- Pesto
- White garlic sauce
- Creamy bechamel sauce
- Hummus
- Barbeque sauce
- Marinara sauce
Pizza toppings –
There are so many combinations to choose from, take a look at the suggestions below or if you have left overs from last nights dinner even better. Who doesn’t like a meat lovers created from last nights spaghetti bolognaise left overs, with extra bits of meat, or the chicken tandoori left overs – yum!
- Onions
- Mushrooms
- Pineapple – apparently not used in Italy, but very Australian
- Capsicum
- Lamb
- Chicken
- Beef
- Bacon
- Pepperoni
- Tomatoes
- Olives
- Spinach
- Ham
- Prawns
- Smoked salmon
- Oysters
- Calamari
- Artichoke
- Anchovies
- Sundried tomatoes
- Potato
- Prosciutto
- Rocket
- Garlic
- Chilli
- Herbs – Basil, rosemary, oregano, thyme
Don’t forget to top it with your favourite cheese, a combination of chesses will make your pizza taste, next level – feta, mozzarella, tasty, pecorino, parmesan, ricotta, blue cheese.
They say that the Margarita pizza, with its fresh tomato, kalamata olives, oregano, and mozzarella cheese topping far outranked all other pizzas to take the crown as Australia’s most popular pizza.
Pizza tips –
- Less is more – don’t put too many toppings on. Traditional pizza’s only have 3-4 toppings plus cheese.
- One ladle of sauce should be more than enough to coat your pizza base.
- If you are making your own bases – make them thicker if you are intending to put them straight onto the grill. Cook both sides of the base before putting the sauce and toppings on.
- Make sure that the toppings are pre-cooked as you will only be putting the pizza on to melt the cheese and cook the base so some thicker items won’t cook through properly.
- If using a pizza stone – heat it up slowly on the BBQ, don’t put your pizza on until hot.
- If using a pizza stone – lightly dust it with flour before putting the pizza on the stone so that the pizza will not stick to the stone.
- If using a pizza stone – you should avoid high heat direct heat under the pizza stone, the heat should be indirect.
- If using the grill direct – heat your grill to a high temperature about 230C so that the dough cooks as soon as it hits the grill so that it forms a crust. If the grill is not hot the dough will droop between the grills.
- If using the grill direct – turn the pizza half way through the cook to reduce the sag and allows the pizza to cook evenly, you also get a nice crisscross effect.
- If using the grill direct – use a basting brush and put olive oil on one side, place this directly onto the hot grill for 1.5-2min, take off the grill, olive oil the uncooked side, turn back to the grilled side and put your sauce base and then topping and return to the grill for another 1-2min with the uncooked olive oil basted side down.
- If using a grill direct – ensure that you keep the grill clean at all times so that the pizza doesn’t taste like the last dinner that you cooked on the BBQ grill.
- If your barbeque doesn’t have a hood, you can use an upturned roasting pan instead.
- Add herbs and greens such as baby spinach and rocket after the pizza has cooked for some freshness.
- Cooking times – homemade pizza dough will cook in 10-15 minutes and premade bases will be done in 7-10 minutes with the hood down.
Do you know what the least favourite topping on a pizza is?
They say it is anchovies, but I beg to differ.
Pizza base recipe – get recipe
Gluten free pizza base recipe – get recipe
Why not try one of these 100 gourmet pizza toppings on your next BBQ pizza – Pizza topping ideas
We hope that you enjoy cooking pizza at your next BBQ party!
