Recipe Courtesy of Man Who Eats

Pepperoni pizza on the Big Green Egg produces authentic wood-fired pizza in your own backyard.

Kamado-style cookers are great for circulating heat and cooking pizza from all sides at a high temperature. In this recipe, I’m using a store-bought pizza dough ball, whole milk mozzarella and sliced pepperoni.

Let’s get started.

Your dough ball needs to be close to room temperature. For that you’ll need to set it out on the counter, covered, for 2-4 hours before stretching and folding.

While the dough is sitting out, make my homemade marinara sauce or use your favorite canned pizza sauce and allow to cool completely.

Prepare the Big Green Egg for 500 degrees indirect cooking withe plate setter feet down. If you have a grate extender, add it to help get the pizza stone high into the dome. This will help the pizza cook evenly. Place the stone on the grill while it is heating up.

Once the dough is warm, get your pizza station ready for action. This is my setup:

• A bowl with marinara sauce
• Another bowl with whole milk mozzarella cheese, shredded
• One bowl with pepperoni or additional toppings
• A cutting board lightly floured
• Wood pizza peel dusted with cornmeal

Begin by placing the dough onto the floured surface and gently stretching into a 12-inch round. If your hands or the pizza get sticky, add more flour. You don’t want too much or there will be a flour taste to your finished pepperoni pizza.

Transfer the dough to the pizza peel, add sauce and toppings. The cornmeal on the bottom gives the pepperoni pizza a nice finished texture while also helping the crust to not stick.

When the grill is up to temperature, carefully slide the pizza onto the preheated stone, close the lid and cook for 8-10 minutes.

After 8 minutes, check the underside for doneness and rotate, if needed. The bottom should be nicely browned and the cheese bubbly when the pie is done. Depending on the thickness of your dough, you may need an additional 2-4 minutes.

Remove the pizza to a cooling rack and let rest for 5 minutes before slicing and serving.

Enjoy with family, friends and a cold beverage.

Because the pepperoni pizza takes only a few minutes, this recipe is great for a pizza-making party or slinging 4-5 individual pies. I find that the dough balls found in most grocery stores are great for either one, 12-inch pie or two 6-inch personal pizzas.

Recipe Courtesy of Big Green Egg

Thanks to the Big Green Egg, you don’t need a wood-fired brick oven to get the best pizza – backyard grillers as well as renowned chefs around the world know that, when set for indirect cooking, the EGG performs like a super-efficient fire brick oven. In fact, EGG owners know a secret … that the Big Green Egg bakes better than wood-fired ovens ever could, because heat from the natural charcoal radiates in a convective flow within the thick ceramic walls of the dome, allowing your pizza to cook very evenly.

Our complete line of flat and deep-dish baking stones makes it easy to perfectly bake a variety of recipes, from pizza, artisan breads, casseroles, quiche and lasagna to pastries, pies and desserts. Our baking stones are made to the same specifications as the EGG itself, so they distribute heat evenly for better baking and browning, and the ceramics pull moisture from the outer surface of the pizza dough for delicious brick oven crispiness. And, because the stones retain heat so efficiently, your food conveniently remains warm longer.

Pizza works best using the indirect cooking method, which means adding a barrier between the direct heat and the food, turning your EGG into a convection oven. To set the EGG for indirect grilling, add natural lump charcoal to the top of the fire box and light. Open the top and bottom vents and let the EGG rise to the desired temperature. Place the convEGGtor in the EGG with the legs up and place the cooking grid on top (if you have the EGGspander, you can use a baking stone in the bottom piece – the convEGGtor Basket – to create the same effect). Add a pizza stone to the cooking grid, and allow it to come up to temperature with the EGG. Adjust the top and bottom vents to maintain the desired temperature.

A pizza peel is a useful tool for moving the pizza in and out of the EGG.

Spreading semolina flour (doesn’t char as easily as other flours) or cornmeal (can leave a gritty texture on the dough if you use too much) on the pizza peel and pizza stone makes it easy to get the pizza on and off the stone without sticking. Remember to put down more flour or cornmeal as needed if you are making more than one pizza.

Using parchment paper under the pizza also prevents the dough from sticking. Use a piece of parchment paper under the dough when making the pizza and, when it’s ready to cook, place the parchment paper with the pizza directly on top of the pizza stone. The parchment paper can stay the whole cooking time or you can pull it halfway through the cook when the dough is firm.

A pizza screen is yet another option to prevent the crust from sticking. Place the pizza on the screen once built and then put the screen on the baking stone. It is very easy to remove once the pizza is cooked.

As the pizza is cooking, be sure to rotate it every few minutes to ensure an even cook.

And of course, do not forget to burp the EGG when you check on the pizza!

Grill Recipe by Amy Aberle-Rogan

The heat certainly affected the lifestyle of the local Cremonese people. As the cool evenings set in, we would escape the overheating kitchens and sit outside to enjoy our meals “al fresco”, underneath the beautiful Venetian blue skies. I fell in love with this part of the Italian culture. I hope you enjoy this recipe while sitting outside and enjoying the evening with family and friends.

My menu this week includes fresh, seasonal ingredients – grilled halibut steaks served with roasted corn and mango salsa fresca, and accompanied by fresh greens, couscous, or any vegetable in season to complete the meal.

The thicker cut of the halibut steak is a great choice because it can stand up to the heat of the fire or charcoal grill, especially when it’s time to flip it over! Grilling the mango and corn allows for a deeper flavor to develop once incorporated with the ingredients of a salsa fresca.

The beauty of this dish is that it is versatile. If you don’t have a grill, you can make the salsa fresh and cook the fish in a pan on the stove or in the oven. I highly recommend enhancing the flavor and texture by grilling on your Bull BBQ. If you cook the fish on the grill, most of the ingredients can be cooked at the same time. Also, you take what little mess there is outside and keep the kitchen nice and cool, and most importantly, clean!

Tips from the Chef for properly cooking the halibut steaks:

1. Make sure your grill is nice and clean. This will ensure a beautiful grilled piece of fish. Preheat the grill for at least 5 minutes on high heat. Once hot, use the Bull Dual Handle Mega Monster Brush, and your grill will be residue free and ready to go.
2. Oil the grill grates before cooking. I like to use olive oil and a clean kitchen rag. Once the grill has preheated, wipe the entire surface with the oiled rag to ensure a nonstick surface.
3. Once you put the fish down on the hot grill, do not touch or move it. This will allow for clean grill marks on your fish. Once the fish has gone from opaque to translucent and it’s time to flip the fish, I highly recommend the Bull Vineyard Rosewood Handle Spatula or the Bull Soft Grip Handle Spatula. Using a wide spatula allows you to get under the entire filet and flip it with ease and control.

Grill Recipe by WPPO, LLC.