Grilled Pizza Rustica Recipes

Steps:

• Add the olive oil with 3 of the whole eggs to a small bowl and whisk to combine. Add the flour, 2 teaspoons salt and the frozen grated butter to a large bowl and stir and pinch with your hands until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Add the egg mixture and blend with a wooden spoon until large crumbles form (they should be slightly larger than a pea). Add 1/4 cup cold water, 1 tablespoon at a time, mixing well after each addition until a dough forms.
• Transfer the dough to a work surface lightly dusted with flour and knead until the dough is smooth. Form the dough into a large round disk and divide the dough into 2 pieces, two thirds for the bottom crust and one third for the top crust. Shape the dough pieces back into round disks. Wrap each in plastic wrap and refrigerate until the dough is firm, about 45 minutes. (The dough can be refrigerated up to 24 hours at this point but will need to sit at room temperature for about 10 minutes before rolling.)
• Add 1 of the egg yolks to a small bowl along with 1 teaspoon water. Whisk to combine, then set the egg wash aside. Add the remaining 3 whole eggs and 3 egg yolks to a large bowl along with the Parmesan, ricotta and several heavy grinds black pepper. Whisk until well combined and smooth. Add the prosciutto, ham, pepperoni, salami, provolone and mozzarella and stir until combined. Set aside.
• Position a rack on the lowest shelf in the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a 9-inch springform pan with olive oil.
• Roll out the larger piece of dough on a flat work surface lightly dusted with flour to a 16-inch round a little less than 1/8-inch thick. Transfer the dough to the prepared springform pan, pressing the dough into the inside edges and up the sides of the pan, leaving any overhang. Spoon the ricotta mixture into the dough-lined pan and spread it out into an even layer.
• Roll out the remaining piece of dough on a lightly dusted surface into a 13-inch round a little less than 1/8-inch thick. Place this dough over the filling, gently pressing into the filling and the dough at the edges of the pan. Trim the overhang of both doughs flush with the top of the pan. Pinch the edges of the doughs together to seal, then tuck under so they are directly on top of the filling and on the inside of the pan. Brush the reserved egg wash over the top and edges of the dough. Cut four 1-inch slits on the top piece of dough using a paring knife, then place the pan on a baking sheet.
• Bake until the crust is deep golden brown, and a long wooden skewer inserted into one of the slits comes out clean, about 2 hours, rotating the pan once halfway through the cooking time.
• Let stand for 2 hours at room temperature, then chill in the refrigerator until completely cooled, at least 4 hours and up to 24 hours.
• Remove from the refrigerator and allow to sit at room temperature for 1 hour before removing the outside ring of the springform pan and transferring the pizza to a serving platter. Cut into wedges to serve.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
• Cook and stir sausage in a large skillet over medium heat until browned, 5 to 8 minutes. Drain.
• Mix Parmesan cheese, mozzarella cheese, ricotta cheese, and eggs together in a bowl. Stir in sausage, prosciutto, and parsley.
• Roll 1 pie crust into an 11-inch circle on a lightly floured work surface. Transfer to a pie plate, leaving a 1/2-inch overhang. Pierce crust all over with a fork. Spread cheese and sausage mixture over crust. Roll second pie crust into a 12-inch circle; place on top. Seal and flute edges. Cut several slits in the top crust to permit steam to escape.
• Bake in the preheated oven until center is set and crust is browned, about 1 hour.

Steps:

• Combine flour, salt, butter, and olive oil for the crust in a large bowl. Blend butter into the flour with a pastry cutter until it resembles coarse crumbs. Make a well in the center of the flour-butter mixture, pour egg into the well, and mix with a fork until egg is mixed in, about 1 minute. Add cold water and mix briefly with a fork. Switch to mixing with your hands and press mixture into a ball. If it seems dry, sprinkle in some more water, 1 teaspoon at a time, until dough comes together.
• Transfer dough to a work surface and press into a disc. Wrap in plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator to rest for at least 1 hour.
• While the dough is resting, combine drained ricotta cheese, mozzarella cheese, Pecorino Romano cheese, salt, black pepper, beaten eggs, cooked Italian sausage, smoked ham, salami, and pepperoni for the filling. Mix thoroughly until extremely well combined; don't worry about overmixing. Cover and place in the refrigerator until ready to use.
• Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). Rub a 9-inch springform pan with olive oil and dust with flour.
• Place dough on a lightly floured surface. Cut off 1/3 of the dough and set aside for the top crust. Roll out the remaining dough for the bottom crust, using only as much flour as needed, into a 15-inch circle, about 1/8 inch thick. Roll the dough onto the rolling pin and transfer to the prepared pan. Tuck the dough into the bottom and up the sides of the pan, being careful not to stretch it. Remove any excess dough, dampen it with water, and use it to fill in where needed.
• Transfer filling into the pan, press firmly into the edges to ensure there are no air pockets, and smooth out the top.
• Roll remaining dough into a circle that's slightly wider than the pan. Roll dough onto the rolling pin and transfer to the pan. Position the top crust properly and press to seal it with the side edges.
• Mix egg and water for egg wash together in a small bowl.
• Brush egg wash on top of dough to moisten entire surface. Trim off excess dough if desired. Fold the side dough down from the pan edges onto the top crust and crimp edges with your fingertips until fully sealed. Brush once more with egg wash.
• Place in the center of the preheated oven, and immediately reduce the heat to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Bake until top crust is a beautiful golden brown, about 1 hour 15 minutes.
• Remove from the oven and let cool for 10 minutes. Carefully remove the ring and let cool another 15 minutes before slicing into wedges.

Steps:

• Preheat a grill with coals on one half and bricks on the other (so that there is a hot and cool side). Assemble all of your topping ingredients on a big platter.
• Lightly oil a sheet pan and roll and stretch one ball of dough until it is approximately 12-inches in length and 8-inches across. It is not necessary to make a perfect circle, but the dough should be an even thickness of 1/8-inch. Carefully stretch the dough onto the hot side of the grill and cook until the dough puffs on top, crisps on the bottom, and grill marks appear, about 1 to 2 minutes.
• Flip the dough onto the cool side of the grill and brush the cooked side with olive oil. Quickly and sparingly assemble the toppings of your choice, such as tomato puree, fontina, and prosciutto di Parma, capers, and red peppers; or tomato puree, pecorino Romano, bel paese, grilled jumbo shrimp, and jarred Italian eggplant. Garnish with torn basil leaves. Feel free to improvise the toppings and come up with your own.
• Once the pizza has been dressed, season it with salt and pepper, to taste, drag it over to the hot side of the grill, and cook until the ingredients are heated through. (If the pizza browns too quickly, pull it to the cool side and cover the grill to finish cooking.) Using a wide spatula or two pairs of tongs, carefully lift the pizza onto a cutting board and divide into 6 or 8 pieces. Serve right away. Repeat with the remaining dough.
• In a large bowl, combine the water, yeast, and molasses and stir gently to mix. Set aside for five minutes until bubbly and foamy. Add the salt, to taste, and oil and stir to mix.
• In a separate bowl, whisk together the flours. Add the flours to the yeast mixture and stir with a wooden spoon until a dough forms and pulls away from the sides of the bowl.
• Divide the dough into six equal pieces. Roll into balls and place on an oiled baking pan. Brush the balls with olive oil and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise in a warm place for 20 minutes.
• When the grill is ready, oil a second baking sheet and flatten one ball of dough into a 10 to 12-inch piece about 1/8-inch thick. A perfect circle is less crucial than even thickness.
• Cook's Note: Dough can be held for 1 day in the refrigerator. Let sit 1 hour at room temperature before grilling.

Steps:

• Prepare a grill for medium-high heat. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Finely grate the zest of the lemon; cut the lemon in half and reserve. Stir together the ricotta, lemon zest, 1/4 teaspoon salt and a few grinds of black pepper. Set aside.
• Divide the pizza dough into 2 balls. Sprinkle the flour on a clean flat surface and roll each ball into an oval about 14 inches long, 6 or 7 inches across and between 1/8 and 1/4 inch thick. Transfer the crusts to the prepared baking sheet. Brush both sides of each crust with olive oil, about 1 tablespoon per side, and lightly sprinkle with salt.
• Lightly oil the grill grates. Grill the crusts until they start to puff and distinct grill marks appear, about 1 minute. Flip and cook until just cooked through, an additional 1 to 2 minutes. Discard the used parchment paper and put the finished crusts on the baking sheet.
• Immediately top each crust evenly with prosciutto. Place small dollops of the ricotta mixture over the prosciutto. Toss the arugula in a bowl with the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil and the juice of one of the lemon halves (reserve the other half for another use). Season with salt and pepper. Divide the arugula between the pizzas and serve.

Steps:

• Dough: Combine the flour and yeast in the work bowl of a stand mixer. Add the salt, water, 2 tablespoons of olive oil, and malted barley syrup. Start the mixer on low, using the hook attachment, and mix until the dough just comes together, approximately 1 1/2 minutes. Increase the mixer speed to medium and knead for 15 minutes.
• Tear off a small piece of dough and flatten into a disk. Gently stretch the dough until thin. Hold it up to the light and look to see if the bakers windowpane, or a see-through, taut membrane has formed. The dough will be quite sticky, but manageable. Fold the dough onto itself and form it into a smooth ball. Oil the bowl of the stand mixer or other large canister with 2 teaspoons of olive oil. Put the dough in the bowl and roll it around to coat with the oil. Cover with a tea towel or plastic wrap and leave at room temperature to double in size, approximately 1 hour.
• Split the dough into 3 equal parts using a knife or dough scraper. Flatten each piece into a disk on the countertop. Form each piece into a ball. Roll each ball on the counter until they tighten into rounds. Cover the balls with a tea towel and rest for 45 minutes.
• To shape and cook the margherita pizza: Heat a gas grill to high and make sure the grill grates are clean and free of debris.
• Toss the tomato with 1 tablespoon of olive oil, the garlic, salt and red pepper flakes in a medium mixing bowl and set aside.
• Lightly flour the countertop and flatten 1 of the dough balls. Use a rolling pin to roll the dough into a 16-inch round, rotating and stretching the dough as you go. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured pizza peel and stretch to re-shape if necessary.
• Oil the grill grates and decrease the heat to medium. Brush the dough with 1 to 2 teaspoons of olive oil and flip onto 1 end of the hot grill, leaving room for the tomatoes on the grate. Put the prepared tomatoes on the grill, close the lid and cook until the bottom of the crust is golden brown and the tomatoes are softened, about 1 to 2 minutes. Brush the raw side of the dough with 1 to 2 teaspoons of olive oil, then immediately flip using the peel. Top with the grilled tomatoes, smashing and spreading the tomatoes to create a sauce. Sprinkle with the Parmesan, mozzarella and basil. Close the lid and cook until the bottom of crust is golden brown and the cheese has melted, another 1 to 2 minutes. Using the peel, remove the pizza to a cooling rack and let rest for 3 minutes before slicing.
• To shape and cook the date and Prosciutto pizza: Heat a gas grill to high and make sure the grill grates are clean and free of debris.
• Layer 2 paper towels on a plate and lay the mozzarella slices in a single layer. Top with 2 more paper towels, a second plate, and a 2 pound weight. Set aside at room temperature for 20 minutes.
• Meanwhile, lightly flour the countertop and flatten 1 of the dough balls. Use a rolling pin to roll the dough into a 16-inch round, rotating and stretching the dough as you go. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured pizza peel and stretch to re-shape if necessary.
• Oil the grill grates and decrease the heat to medium. Brush the dough with 1 to 2 teaspoons of olive oil and flip onto the hot grill. Close the lid and cook until the bottom of crust is golden brown, for 1 to 2 minutes. Brush the raw side of the dough with 1 to 2 teaspoons of olive oil, then immediately flip using the peel, brush with remaining 1 to 2 teaspoons of olive oil, and top with the Parmesan, prepared mozzarella, prosciutto, dates and thyme. Close the lid and cook until the bottom of crust is golden brown and the cheese has melted, about 1 to 2 minutes. Using the peel, remove the pizza to a cooling rack and rest for 3 minutes before slicing.
• To shape and cook cracker pizza: Lightly flour the countertop and flatten 1 of the dough balls. Use a rolling pin to roll the dough into an 11 by 17-inch rectangle to fit a standard, stainless steel cooling rack. Lay the dough sheet onto the rack and gently stretch around the edges, pinching to hold in place. Brush the dough with 1 to 2 teaspoons of olive oil. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Attach the Vise-Grips to 1 end of the cooling rack to use as a handle. Turn a gas burner on high. Hold the rack about 2 inches above the flame, and move back and forth constantly until the bottom is golden brown, about 3 to 4 minutes. Carefully turn the dough over, brush with 1 to 2 teaspoons olive oil and season with additional salt and pepper, if desired. Cook, as before, until golden brown, an additional 2 to 3 minutes.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a food processor combine the flour, sugar, salt, 1/4 teaspoon black pepper, 3 egg yolks, cold water and butter and process until a ball of dough has been formed. Remove the dough and, on a floured work surface, knead the dough for 5 minutes. Wrap the ball of dough with plastic and refrigerate. In a bowl combine the ricotta, 3 remaining egg yolks, 1 teaspoon black pepper, prosciutto, salami, mozzarella and romano cheese into a batter. Refrigerate while you prepare the pastry shell. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and cut one third of the dough off to be used as the top crust. With the remaining larger piece, flour a work surface, place this larger piece of dough on the work board and begin to roll the dough to approximately a 12-inch wide circle. Brush the inside of the springform pan with olive oil and transfer the rolled out circle of dough to the pan. Using your finger tips, press the dough evenly into the bottom of the pan, making sure that the dough has a flat bottom and the edge is tucked into the seam of the pan. Pull the dough up the side of the pan to the top edge and the dough should just rise to the top of the pan. Pour the cheese and meat filling into the prepared dough and shake the pan to distribute the filling evenly. Roll the remaining smaller piece of dough to a 10-inch circle and place this on top of the pan. Pinch the edges of the two pieces of dough together to seal the edge completely. Cut a cross into the top crust so that steam may escape during baking and place into the preheated oven, on a cookie sheet, in the center of the oven, and bake for 45 to 55 minutes. The top should be well browned when thoroughly baked. Remove from the oven, allow to cool for 10 minutes, run a sharp knife around the edge to loosen the crust from the pan, and open the springform pan. continue to cool completely before serving at room temperature.;

Steps:

• Two to three hours before grilling, transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface. Using a sharp knife or a bench scraper, divide the dough into three even pieces. Drizzle a teaspoon of neutral cooking oil into three soup bowls. (Each bowl should be able to hold at least twice the volume of the dough pieces.)
• Working with one piece of dough at a time, shape each into a ball by stretching it and pinching it into a point at the bottom, forming a sort of "skin" that wraps the whole ball. Lightly dust your hands with flour as necessary to prevent excessive sticking. Transfer the ball to one of the oiled bowls and turn it a few times to completely coat the surface in oil, then let it rest seam side down. Repeat Step 2 with remaining dough pieces, then drape a damp kitchen towel over all three bowls. Let the dough balls rest until roughly doubled in volume, about 2 hours.
• Transfer the tomatoes to a fine-mesh strainer set over a large bowl and shake the strainer, allowing the tomatoes to drain thoroughly. Still working in the strainer above the bowl, season well with salt, and, using clean hands, squeeze them through your fingers until a rough purée is formed. (The pieces of tomato should end up ranging from 1/4 inch to roughly 1 inch in size.) Allow any excess liquid to drain (you can save the strainer tomato juice for another use), then transfer the crushed tomatoes to a bowl and set aside.
• Turn out one ball of dough onto a floured work surface and dust thoroughly with more flour. Using a rolling pin, roll the dough into a 10-inch-by-12-to-14-inch oblong. Dust both sides thoroughly with flour, then transfer to a parchment-lined rimmed baking sheet. Repeat with remaining two dough balls, stacking them on top of the first with a layer of parchment paper between each.
• To cook, ignite a full chimney of charcoal. When the coals are mostly covered in gray ash, spread evenly under half of the grill. (If using a gas grill, set half the burners to high, leaving the remaining burners off. Cover, and allow to heat for 10 minutes.)
• Using your fingers, carefully lift one piece of rolled-out dough from the stack and drape it quickly on the grill grates directly above the fire. Let it cook without moving until the top starts to bubble and the bottom is lightly browned, about 20 to 30 seconds. Continue cooking, using metal tongs and a large spatula or thin metal pizza peel to move and rotate the crust as it cooks, until the bottom is evenly browned all over with a few charred spots, 1 to 3 minutes.
• Flip the crust, and brush the cooked side with a thin layer of olive oil. Continue cooking until the second side is browned, charred and crisp. Flip again (so that the bubblier side faces up), transfer to a clean baking sheet, and brush the second side with olive oil. Repeat Steps 6 and 7 with remaining two pizza skins, stacking the crusts as they finish cooking. (If using coal, the heat may start to dip. Extend cooking time to compensate, or add 15 to 20 fresh coals to the top of the embers and allow them to ignite before continuing.)
• Working one pizza at a time, transfer the crust to the pizza peel. (A cutting board or the back of a baking sheet will also work.) Spread a thin layer of shredded cheese across the surface of the crust (about 1 cup should do it). Using a spoon, add tablespoon-size dollops of crushed tomatoes, spaced an inch or two apart, across the whole surface of the pizza. Add toppings as desired (see Tips). Slide the pizza onto the cooler side of the grill, cover, and cook until the cheese is melted and the crust is crisp, 1 to 5 minutes total, rotating the pizza occasionally to encourage even melting and crisping. Transfer to a cutting board, drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with basil or scallions, cut into squares, and serve immediately. Repeat Step 8 with remaining pizza crusts.