Grilled Smoked Mozzarella And Yellow Squash Pizzettes Recipes

GRILLED PIZZA WITH YELLOW SQUASH, MOZZARELLA, AND LEMON THYME

Steps:

• In a small bowl stir together garlic and oil and let stand 15 minutes.
• With a mandoline or other manual slicer, slice squash crosswise into 1/16-inch thick rounds, transferring to plate.
• Prepare grill: Open vents in lid and bottom of kettle grill and put 25 briquets on 2 opposite sides of bottom, leaving middle clear. Oil rack and position with wider openings over briquets. Light briquets. (They will be ready for cooking as soon as they turn grayish-white, 20 to 30 minutes.)
• Remove plastic wrap from 2 pieces of rolled-out-pizza dough (if grill is not large, work with 1 piece at a time, keeping remaining piece chilled) and lightly brush dough with some garlic oil. Trying not to stretch dough, carefully transfer it, oiled side down, with your hands to rack of grill. (If it's a very hot day, the dough may get too soft to transfer easily; if so, pop it into the freezer until firm again, about 15 minutes.) Lightly brush top with some garlic oil. When grilling pizzas, rotate them if 1 side of grill is hotter than the other. Grill crusts, covered, until undersides are golden brown on bottom, about 4 minutes. Flip crusts over with 2 metal spatulas and top each crust with half of cheeses, squash, and thyme. Lightly brush pizzas with some garlic oil and grill, covered, about 5 minutes, or until undersides are golden brown and cheeses are melted.
• Garnish pizzas with thyme sprigs and cut into wedges.
• In a large bowl stir together 1/3 cup water, yeast, and sugar and let stand until foamy, about 10 minutes. Stir in remaining 1/3 cup water, 2 tablespoons oil, 1 3/4 cups flour, cornmeal, and salt and blend until mixture forms a dough. Knead dough on a floured surface, incorporating as much of remaining 1/4 cup flour as necessary to prevent dough from sticking, until smooth and elastic, 5 to 10 minutes.
• Alternatively, dough may be made in a food processor. Proof yeast as described above. In food processor process yeast mixture with 1 3/4 cups flour, cornmeal, and salt until mixture forms a ball, adding more water, 1 teaspoon at a time, it too dry or more flour, 1 tablespoon at a time, if too wet, and knead dough by processing 15 seconds more.
• Put dough, prepared by either method, in an oiled deep bowl and turn to coat with oil. Let dough rise, covered with plastic wrap, in a warm place 1 hour, or until doubled in bulk, and punch down. Form dough into 4 balls. Makes enough dough for four 10-inch thin-crust pizzas.
• Lightly brush a baking sheet with olive oil.
• On a lightly floured surface roll out 1 ball of dough 1/8 inch thick (about 10 inches in diameter). Brushing off excess flour, transfer dough with your hands to baking sheet and cover surface completely with plastic wrap. Repeat procedure with remaining dough balls and plastic wrap in same manner, stacking rolled-out pieces on top of one another on baking sheet. Wrap baking sheet with more plastic wrap to ensure that dough is completely covered. (Chill dough until firm, about 1 hour, and up to 4 hours.)

CHEESE PIZZETTES

Steps:

• Mix the mozzarella cheese and Parmesan together in a medium bowl, then set aside. Roll out the dough on a lightly floured work surface to 1/4-inch thick. Using a 2 3/4-inch-diameter cookie cutter, cut out dough rounds.
• Add enough oil to a heavy large frying pan with 3-inch sides to come halfway up the sides of the pan. Heat the oil over medium heat until hot. Drop a scrap of dough into the oil to ensure the oil is hot enough. If the dough sizzles, then the oil is hot enough. Working in batches, add the dough rounds to the hot oil (being sure not to crowd them in the pan) and cook until golden brown, about 3 minutes per side. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the rounds to paper towels to drain the excess oil. Immediately sprinkle the cheese mixture over the hot pizzas. Serve warm.

GRILLED SMOKED-MOZZARELLA AND YELLOW SQUASH PIZZETTES

Steps:

• Prepare grill. Thinly slice squash. Halve and thinly slice tomato lengthwise. In a large nonstick skillet heat oil over moderate heat until hot but not smoking and cook squash with salt and pepper to taste, stirring frequently, 2 minutes. Add tomato and cook until squash is barely tender, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in basil.
• Divide dough into 4 pieces. On a floured surface with floured hands rotate and stretch each piece into a 4-inch round. (Do not roll out, as dough has too much elasticity and will shrink.) Put rounds in one layer on cornmeal-dusted baking sheet.
• Grill rounds, cornmeal sides up, on a lightly oiled rack set 5 to 6 inches over glowing coals until undersides are golden, 2 to 3 minutes. If crusts puff up in the center, prick with a fork to allow air to escape. Flip crusts over with a metal spatula and top each with one fourth squash mixture. Sprinkle pizzettes with mozzarella and grill until undersides are golden and cheese is melted, about 2 minutes.