Grilled Pizza Recipe on the Big Green Egg
Ingredients
Pizza
- Fontanini pie crust
- Sita olive oil
- All-Purpose Pizza Sauce (see recipe, including secret ingredient, below)
- Pepperoni and/or sausage of your choice
- Grated mozzarella cheese
- Yellow corn meal
All-Purpose Pizza Sauce
- 1 can (28-ounce) crushed tomatoes The best brand of tomatoes for pizza sauce is the one you like best. (I like Tuttorosso crushed tomatoes with basil.) They all work well. You may find that your tomatoes are a bit too juicy. If so, drain them, but reserve the juice in case you need it later. You may not need to add the extra water.
- 1-1/2 teaspoons red wine vinegar
- 1/2 teaspoon granulated garlic or garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon dried basil (Skip this if you use Tuttorosso crushed tomatoes with basil.)
- 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1/3 - 2/3 cup apple sauce (secret ingredient, works as a sugar replacement)
- 1/8 - 1/2 teaspoon salt
Instructions
How to Set Up the Big Green Egg for Pizza
- Set up the Egg for indirect cooking with the convEGGtor legs up.
- Place the EGGspander on the grate. If you don’t have an EGGspander, place the pizza stone on the grate. (The EGGspander allows you to bake higher in the Egg at a higher temperature).
- Preheat the Egg, plate setter, and pizza stone together to 600 degrees F.
Making the Pizza
- Brush a light coat of oil onto the crust, making sure you apply it to the edge.
- Add the pizza sauce to the crust, keeping it about an inch from the edge.
- Add the pepperoni, sausage, or other meat.
- Add the cheese.
- Spread a light sprinkling of corn meal on the hot baking stone.
- Bake the pizza for about five minutes.
- After you “burp” the Egg, check for a nice light golden edge. If it hasn’t formed, bake it for another minute. The time to cook each crust will vary depending on how moist it is.
- Rest the pizza for a couple of minutes.
Making the Sauce
- Drain the tomatoes and set aside the juice.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together all the ingredients except the apple sauce, salt, and tomato juice.
- Taste the sauce and whisk in the apple sauce and salt to taste. If necessary, add more tomato juice to thin the sauce. The sauce should spread easily over the dough—if the sauce is thick at this stage, it will be pasty on the pizza.
- Taste the sauce again and adjust the apple sauce or salt if needed.
- This sauce doesn’t need cooking because the tomatoes are cooked when they are canned and the sauce cooks on the egg. Resist the urge to use too much sauce; the sauce should kiss the dough. For a 10-inch pizza, use 1/4 cup of sauce (3 ounces). For a 12-inch, use 1/3 cup (4 ounces).