Our love affair with grilling pizza in the summer began years ago! Like, so long ago I’m not sure when it actually was…at least 15 years or so. The recipe that had been used for so long came from a magazine (no recollection of which one) that featured a pizza crust being grilled right on the grill…no sheet, or special rack, just right on the grill. We were hooked! We’ve had so many variations and so much fun over the years and our neighbors thought we were all just a bit crazy for grilling pizza? Whaaaaaaa?
Obviously, the recipe we used forever was filled with all the bad things we now don’t include in our diets any longer, so we hadn’t had any grilled pizza for years! With the introduction of Otto’s cassava flour last spring…things have changed for the better. Super versatile product and we’ve brought so many fun things back into our meal rotation! Muffins, cakes, waffle cones…mostly baked goods, but also savory dishes as well!
I pulled the old recipe out after being filed away for years and began adapting – and after nearly a dozen attempts, and lots of pizza eating along the way, I think we’ve nailed it! This crust is firm enough to lay carefully right on the grill…you know so you get those fun grill marks right on the dough and yet it’s still comes off the grill fluffy or even crispy depending how thin you want to roll it. Now, depending on the type of yeast you use will determine the amount of Otto’s that you end up using. With traditional “active dry” yeast, I found you only need about ⅔ cups cassava flour, however I tried the recipe with a “pizza crust” yeast (both Fleischmann’s brand) and ended up needing closer to ¾ cups. Not sure why, but something to keep in mind!
You can make traditional pizza with red sauce, toppings and cheese (our tummies tolerate some full fat cheese) right on the grill and let it get all hot and bubbly or you can grill both sides of the crust, pull it off and top with a cool salad kinda flair! Or we even make dessert pizza…yep, had to go there! We make an apple pie pizza, apples are just pre-cooked with cinnamon , lay them on the crust, add some nuts and we drizzle it with our caramel sauce! It’s delicious! Have a blast making these and make it a family meal prep by having everyone add their own toppings ~ you will make many memories!
grilled cassava flour pizza crust
grilled Paleo pizza that is super fun & an interactive meal
Credit: backporchpaleo.com
Ingredients
- ¾ c warm water, right around 100°-105° is perfect
- ¾ t coconut sugar
- ¾ t dry yeast
- ½ t Redmond Real Salt
- ¼ t Italian seasoning (opt)
- 1½ t Kasandrino’s olive oil
- ⅔-¾ c Otto’s Cassava Flour
- ¼ c arrowroot starch + more for dusting as you roll out crusts
- ¾ t gelatin (this kind)
- Chosen Foods Avocado/Coconut oil cooking spray*
- parchment paper
- toppings of choice
Directions
- ~~~ Grill prep
- If you’re going to make a traditional “melted cheese” type of pizza on the grill, gather any toppings, meats, veggies, herbs, cheese, etc before you start and cut them into the size you want. All meats should be pre-cooked or meats you can eat right out of the package. If you’re going to make warm dessert pizza (you will want too!!) make sure fruit or toppings are cooked and any glaze is also ready to go. The amount of time on the grill will not cook anything, simply warming/melting! You’ll need to work quickly once crust is flipped as you put sauce/toppings on.
- Set up a table or some kind of work space next to your grill, this way you can work from there and will save you the time running back and forth into the kitchen. Bring everything with you that you’ll need.
- You’ll want a large heat resistant spatula to flip the dough…preferably with a long handle!
- Pre-heat grill – we used a gas grill & our stove top cast iron one, but a charcoal grill should also work, just make sure you can regulate the heat.
- In a glass measuring cup, mix water, coconut sugar and yeast till well combined, let bloom, typically about 4-6 minutes.
- Once yeast mixture has bloomed, add salt, Italian seasoning (if using) and olive oil and stir to combine.
- Measure ⅔ c of the cassava flour, arrowroot and gelatin into a medium sized bowl and whisk to incorporate, pour in yeast mixture and stir with a wooden spoon to combine. If dough is too sticky, slowly add more cassava flour a couple tablespoons at a time until you have the consistency of dough that you can work with. This could mean a 1-2 T more or it could mean less. See my note in the third paragraph about the type of yeast and how this may affect how much cassava flour you’ll use.
- Divide dough into 4 portions and roll into balls, gently kneading each one as you form it.
- Dust one piece of parchment with some arrowroot, place one dough ball on it, dust with a little more arrowroot and place a second piece of parchment on top and roll out to about a 4-5″ circle. If you want a crisper crust, roll it out a little thinner/larger…but be careful not to go to large, the larger the crust, the harder it is to flip over!
- Remove top parchment paper from crust and set aside, this will become the next piece of parchment that you roll out the next crust on. Slide the parchment with the crust on it onto a baking sheet and repeat process with remaining crusts. In all you’ll need 5 pieces of parchment.
- Head out to the grill with all your crusts and fixin’s!
- Before placing crust on grill, spray with cooking spray…because you want a golden crust don’t you? Do this AWAY from the flame…you do NOT need a fire on your hands!
- Lay crust on grill, sprayed side down…and the cooking will begin! Check crust with the spatula by lifting up one edge and see if you’ve got some nice grill marks and some good color. If you don’t, give it just a few more minutes.
- Once crust is ready, remove from heat with spatula and spray with more avocado oil and then carefully flip while placing it back on the grill.
- If you’re going to enjoy a pizza with toppings added to a cooked crust, like a salad pizza, just keep an eye on it and when the color on the bottom is golden and crust if firm, remove from the heat and add toppings.
- If you’re going to add toppings directly to the crust and continue cooking out on the grill…go for it! As a tip, move crust towards the front of the grill as you add sauce, toppings and such…the heat coming off the grill is super hot (duh) and you don’t want to have to throw things onto the crust…trust me, you’ll miss and you’ll have things falling through the grates and into to the flames below! Once all toppings are on as you want, use the spatula and move pizza back into the middle of the grill, shut the lid and let it get all warmed! Keep an eye on the bottom of the crust and possibly move the crust to a cooler part of the grill so that it doesn’t get burned while the toppings are still getting warm!
~~ Ok, back to the crust
*if you don’t have avocado oil spray, you can simply use a heat resistant brush and carefully brush oil on the crusts.
