Tailgating With Grilled Mini Pizzas

Grilling pizzas has become a new trend that a lot of people are enjoying.  Usually, though, these pizzas are eight to fourteen inches around and are more or less traditional two-person pies.  What about singles?

Like hamburger buns or other traditional grill items, mini pizzas are much easier to handle on the grill and give you several advantages, such as being able to avoid hot spots of “flame shooters” (as my friend calls them).  They can also be made on a grill of any size or type – hibachi, large BBQ, charcoal or gas.

They’re also awesome for something that comes up a lot this time of year.. tailgating.

Here’s a simple mini pizza you can quickly make on a grill.  You can use this method and adapt to just about any pizza type, so if you prefer caprese or Hawaiian, change the toppings as you wish.

Your pre-made pizza dough (store bought or homemade) should be rolled out to about 1/4 inch in thickness.  Using a round item that is about 4 inches in diameter (bowl, wide-mouthed glass, etc), cut circles from the dough.  If you’re tailgating, these can be stacked with cheese cloth or 2-sided wax paper separating them and refrigerated.  When you’ve cut the rounds, form up the remainder of the dough and roll out to make more rounds or roll it into a 1-inch diameter cylinder and make bread sticks for the grill.

Pre-heat the grill to a medium heat.  Brush both sides of each round with olive oil as you place it on the grill.  It’s usually a good idea to spray the grill itself with non-stick before lighting OR brush with cooking oil or butter (do not use olive oil as it burns and changes flavor).

Grill each pizza round until grate marks are appearing – about five minutes.  Flip them with a spatula or tongs.  Add toppings to freshly-grilled side and grill for another 5-7 minutes (until cheese has melted).  With mozzarella and pepperoni, this takes about five minutes and the toppings can be added while it’s on the grill to save mess and space.

Like I said, excellent for tailgating!  With the dough pre-cut and ready to go, you can stack it into the cooler with some toppings and be off to the stadium for a great tailgate meal that goes perfectly with the pre-game.