Thursday, June 4, 2015

Grilled Pizza with White Beans, Spinach, & Yellow Cherry Tomatoes

I've mentioned my love of grilled pizza before when we hosted a grilled pizza party for friends. It's fun to make, a cinch to throw together thanks to fresh pizza dough at the grocery store, and ridiculously versatile. Whenever warm weather and grilling season arrives, it's one of our favorite things to add back into our dinner rotation, but since this spring has been so rainy in Texas, the grill has been a bit neglected. Until now! This week has been sunny and beautiful, so when I saw this White Bean and Spinach Pizza recipe from The Kitchn, I knew it was the perfect inspiration for our first grilled pizza of the season! So without further ado, let's get to the pizza.
Ingredients
1 ball of fresh pizza dough
Flour for rolling out dough
1/3 cup olive oil
1 large garlic clove
4 oz taleggio, rind removed
Grated mozzarella
1 can of cannellini beans (though you wont need the whole can)
A handful of fresh spinach
6 or so yellow cherry tomatoes, halved

Directions
Light the grill, and let it get as hot as possible.
(Warning: my grilling instructions will be a bit lacking, as my husband is in charge of the grill at our house).

While the grill heats, toss and roll out your pizza dough.
(We try to get ours as thin as we can and as round as we can, though it usually ends up pretty oddly shaped. There's no judgment here. It'll still taste good).

Also, heat the olive oil in a small pan on the stove over medium heat. Once hot, toss in the minced garlic and let simmer for a few minutes to infuse the olive oil with the flavor of the garlic.

Once the grill is hot, toss on the pizza dough. Close the lid, and cook for 1.5 to 2 minutes.
(We use a wooden pizza peel dusted with semolina to prevent sticking. One good quick jerk of the arm should slide it from the peel to the grill).

Once the bottom has crisped nicely, remove the dough from the grill, and flip it over so that you can decorate the cooked side with the toppings.

Brush the crust with the garlic-infused olive oil, and top with roughly torn pieces of tallegio and the grated mozzarella. Scatter with a good handful of white beans, tomato halves, and fresh spinach leaves.
(Try to avoid overloading the pizza too much so that everything will heat through and melt nicely in the quick amount of time required to cook the bottom of the crust)


Return the pizza to the grill, close the lid, and cook for another 1.5 to 2 minutes. The bottom should be cooked and crispy (a few charred spots are fine), and the cheese should be melted.

Cut into pieces (I use kitchen shears), and serve immediately!


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