The first time we grilled a calzone on the Grilled Pizza Stone, we had no idea how amazing it
would taste!  It’s a delicious crowd
pleaser that can be served hot off the grill or made ahead of time and served
at room temperature.  (You’ll enjoy it as
next-day refrigerator leftovers, too!)

Our good friend, Miss Andrea, introduced us to this
classic Crescent City treat!  Italian
cold cuts (capicola, mortadella, and salami) are topped with provolone cheese
and a most excellent chopped olive salad!
Normally served on a bulky sesame roll, this sandwich was begging to be
made into a calzone.  Combine these
fantastic ingredients plus wood smoked flavor from your grill and the Grilled
Pizza Stone and this is a must try recipe!

Ingredients

Your favorite Italian cold cuts

Provolone cheese

Chopped olive salad.

Roasted red peppers (optional).

Fresh pizza dough–about the size of a softball. Our dough
recipe can be found here

Olive oil, salt and pepper

Flour for dusting work surface

Cornmeal for dusting platter

Pre-heat
your Grilled Pizza Stone using the charcoal grill technique found here or gas grill technique
found here. Flour your work
surface, roll out dough ball into a rough rectangular shape, about ¼”
thick.  Season dough with olive oil, salt
and pepper. Spread some olive salad, layer provolone cheese then each of the
Italian cold cuts.  If you are using the
roasted red peppers layer them between the cold cuts.  Add another layer of provolone cheese and
more olive salad.

Fold
the dough over the toppings.  To seal the
edges, pinch and pull the dough with your fingers, all the way around.  Please see our calzone video to view this
technique.  Gently pick up the calzone,
and transfer it to a cookie sheet or pizza peel sprinkled with cornmeal.

Carefully
place the calzone onto the Grilled Pizza Stone, being careful not to touch the
pizza stone, as it is very hot.

Replace
the lid of the grill, and after approximately 5-7 minutes, flip the calzone
using grill tongs.  Again, replace the
lid of the grill, and grill another 5-7 minutes.  Use grill tongs to place the calzone on a
plate and let it rest for 5 minutes.  Cut
and serve hot!

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Pesto with Shrimp Pizza

This was our first time making a basil pesto pizza.  What a treat.  This super easy sauce is a great substitution for traditional red sauce.  You could pair it with virtually any protein, we chose shrimp. Add the wood smoke from your grill and this is a must try Grilled Pizza Stone recipe!

Pesto Sauce (recipe below)

Extra Romano cheese, grated

Shrimp (31-40 count), brined

Toasted pine nuts

Prepare your pizza dough for toppings by first spreading a thin layer of olive oil (to the edges), and seasoning with salt and pepper.   To maximize your prep time, once rolled, place the dough on a cookie sheet or pizza peel.  If using fresh dough, first sprinkle a liberal amount of cornmeal on the peel/sheet to avoid sticking while transferring to the Grilled Pizza Stone.  For more tips and tricks on dough preparation, view our dough video here.

Dress the shell with the pesto sauce, and add the brined shrimp.    Finish with a pinch of salt and pepper.  Grill the pizza using the Grilled Pizza Stone.  When pizza comes off grill, add a sprinkle of Romano cheese and extra toasted pine nuts.  Gas grill instructions are here.  Charcoal grill instructions are here.

Pesto Sauce

4 Tablespoons toasted pine nuts (dry pan, medium heat about 1 minute)

3 Cloves of peeled garlic 

1 Cup of roughly chopped basil

4 Tablespoons roughly chopped parsley

1 Teaspoon crushed red pepper flake

½ Cup grated Romano cheese

Salt and pepper to taste

¾ Cup best quality olive oil you can find

In a blender add 3 Tablespoons of the pine nuts, and all but a handful of the Romano cheese.  Add the rest of the ingredients minus the olive oil.  Blend the ingredients until smooth.  While the ingredients are being blended, slowly drizzle the olive oil until emulsified.

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Bolognese Calzone

The first time we grilled a calzone on the Grilled Pizza Stone, we had no idea how amazing it would taste!  It’s a delicious crowd pleaser that can be served hot off the grill or made ahead of time and served at room temperature.  (You’ll enjoy it as next-day refrigerator leftovers, too!)

Slow simmered, meaty Bolognese sauce is the star here.  A touch of nutmeg rounds out this complex yet simple sauce.  Add some basil and fontina cheese plus wood smoked flavor from your grill and the Grilled Pizza Stone and this is a must try recipe!

Ingredients

Six tablespoons of Bolognese sauce (recipe below)

Shredded Fontina cheese

Torn basil

Fresh pizza dough–about the size of a softball. Our dough recipe can be found here

Olive oil, salt and pepper

Flour for dusting work surface

Cornmeal for dusting platter

Pre-heat your Grilled Pizza Stone using the charcoal grill technique found here or gas grill technique found here. Flour your work surface, roll out dough ball into a rough rectangular shape, about ¼” thick.  Season dough with olive oil, salt and pepper.  Add six tablespoons of Bolognese sauce and top with torn basil and Fontina cheese.

Fold the dough over the toppings.  To seal the edges, pinch and pull the dough with your fingers, all the way around.  Please see our calzone video to view this technique.  Gently pick up the calzone, and transfer it to a cookie sheet or pizza peel sprinkled with cornmeal. 

Carefully place the calzone onto the Grilled Pizza Stone, being careful not to touch the pizza stone, as it is very hot.

Replace the lid of the grill, and after approximately 5-7 minutes, flip the calzone using grill tongs.  Again, replace the lid of the grill, and grill another 5-7 minutes.  Use grill tongs to place the calzone on a plate and let it rest for 5 minutes.  Cut and serve hot!

Bolognese Sauce:

Three tablespoons unsalted butter

Two tablespoons each of minced carrot, onion, and celery

One pound of either ground veal, meatloaf mix, or turkey

One cup whole milk

One cup dry white wine like Sauvignon Blanc

Fourteen ounces of tomatoes packed in their juice, crushed by hand

Half a teaspoon of fresh nutmeg

Heat butter in Dutch oven over medium heat.  Add the minced vegetable mixture and sauté until they are a soft but not browned.  Season lightly with salt and pepper.  Add ground meat and cook until all pink is gone.   Season lightly with salt and pepper again.  Add milk and simmer until all liquid is gone-it will leave behind yellow solids.  Add the wine and simmer until it is completely evaporated.  Add the tomatoes and their juice and simmer until it reaches the consistency you want.  Total time should be about two hours.  Use a micro plane to add fresh nutmeg.  Season once again with salt and pepper to taste.

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Gameday Pizza

My favorite treat when going to a stadium to see the big game is a sausage, pepper, and onion sandwich.  We’ve re-created this classic with a fantastic pizza.  Add the wood smoke flavor from the grill and the Grilled Pizza Stone and you’ve got yourself a great treat to enjoy while watching the game at home!

Basic red pizza sauce (recipe below)

Mozzarella cheese, shredded or sliced

Green pepper and yellow onion, sliced and lightly sautéed

Sweet Italian sausage, grilled then sliced

Grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese (optional)

Salt and pepper

Olive oil

Prepare your pizza dough for toppings by first spreading a thin layer of olive oil (to the edges), and seasoning with salt and pepper.   To maximize your prep time, once rolled, place the dough on a cookie sheet or pizza peel.  If using fresh dough, first sprinkle a liberal amount of cornmeal on the peel/sheet to avoid sticking while transferring to the Grilled Pizza Stone.  For more tips and tricks on dough preparation, view our dough video here.

Dress the pizza with your favorite, basic red pizza sauce.  Layer sliced mozzarella on top, and add the onions, peppers, and grilled sausages.  Sometimes we’ll sprinkle grated parmesan cheese on top before grilling.  Drizzle with some olive oil, and just a pinch of salt and pepper. 

Basic Red Pizza Sauce

We like to make a large batch of pizza sauce at once.  Storing the pizza sauce in plastic baggies (about a cup’s worth of sauce per baggie) and freezing them is a great time-saver.  There are many different ways to make basic red pizza sauce, here is my favorite.  I strongly suggest you use San Marzano tomatoes, for the extra few dollars per tin, the upgrade in flavor is well worth it.

Ingredients:

2 28 ounce tins of whole plum tomatoes (San Marzano preferably)

1 Small onion

4 Cloves of garlic

3 Tablespoons of olive oil

1 Tablespoon of crushed red pepper flakes (optional)

½ Tablespoon of dried oregano

½ Tablespoon of dried thyme

1 Cup of chicken stock or white wine or red wine

2 Tablespoons of sherry vinegar

Fresh Basil and/or Fresh Oregano (optional)

Salt to tast

Preheat a large sauce pan or dutch-oven on medium-high.  Pour the contents of the tomato tins into a large bowl.  Using your hands (time to roll up your sleeves) crush the tomatoes as finely as possible.  Peel an onion and remove the top and bottom.  Peel the garlic.  Puree both in a blender.  Add olive oil to sauce pan until shimmering.  Pour onion/garlic mixture into pan.  Sauté until mixture just starts to turn golden (about 3 minutes).  Add the dried herbs and pepper flakes and cook for one more minute.  Deglaze the pan with either the chicken stock or wine and let reduce by half.  Add the sherry vinegar (it really makes the flavors come alive) and carefully pour in the tomatoes.  If you have fresh basil or oregano, take a few fronds or stems and place them in the sauce.  Bring to a boil, and then simmer for 15 minutes.  Remove the fresh basil or oregano.  Salt to taste.  That’s it…you’re done!  Let cool before using on pizza or storing for future use.

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This pizza would make a fantastic appetizer at your next cocktail party.  Grilled fillet of beef is thinly sliced and draped over Romesco sauce and blue cheese.  Romesco sauce is a red pepper puree that is super easy to make, everything is prepared in a blender.  The tang from the blue cheese is the perfect complement to this Spanish sauce and decadent cut of beef.  Add the wood smoke flavor from the grill and this is a sure crowd pleaser!

Romesco sauce (roasted red pepper puree – see recipe below)

Blue cheese, crumbled

Grilled fillet of beef, rare and sliced thin, about ¼ lbs.

Flat leaf parsley

Prepare your pizza dough for toppings by first spreading a thin layer of olive oil (to the edges), and seasoning with salt and pepper.   To maximize your prep time, once rolled, place the dough on a cookie sheet or pizza peel.  If using fresh dough, first sprinkle a liberal amount of cornmeal on the peel/sheet to avoid sticking while transferring to the Grilled Pizza Stone.  For more tips and tricks on dough preparation, view our dough video at http://www.redskygrilling.com/pizza-stone-recipes.html.

Dress the shell with the Romesco sauce, and dollop with blue cheese.  Layer the sliced filled of beef.  Finish with a drizzle of olive oil and a pinch of salt and pepper.  When the pizza is done cooking on the Grilled Pizza Stone, sprinkle torn flat leaf parsley over the top.

Romesco Sauce

2 Slices, white sandwich bread

3 Tablespoons slivered almonds

1 Whole peeled, seeded fresh tomato (alternatively, San Marzano canned tomato)

12 oz. (1 jar) Roasted red peppers, drained

1 ½ Cloves fresh garlic, minced

2 Tablespoons Olive oil

1 ½ Tablespoons Sherry vinegar

¾ Teaspoon Chipotle chili pepper powder

Salt and pepper to taste

Remove crusts from bread; toast until lightly brown.  Cut into cubes and put aside. Using a dry pan lightly toast almonds on medium heat, about 4 minutes.  In a food processor, pulse bread and almonds first until the nuts are finely ground.  Add tomato, red pepper, garlic, oil, vinegar, chipotle pepper powder and salt and pulse until the sauce thickens, another 30 – 50 seconds.  Scrape down the sides as needed.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Cover and refrigerate up to 2 days.

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The Grilled Pizza Stone goes to Little Havana!  If you’ve never had a Cuban sandwich, it is a real treat.  Smoked pork shoulder, sliced ham, Swiss cheese, pickles, and yellow mustard combine to form a tasty classic.  Add the wood smoke from the grill and this may be the best Cuban sandwich you’ve ever had!

The first time we grilled a calzone on the Grilled Pizza Stone, we had no idea how amazing it would taste!  It’s a delicious crowd pleaser that can be served hot off the grill or made ahead of time and served at room temperature.  (You’ll enjoy it as next-day refrigerated leftovers, too!)

Ingredients

Smoked pork shoulder

Sliced deli ham

Swiss cheese-sliced thick

Dill pickle chips

Yellow mustard (such as French’s)

Salt and pepper to taste

Pizza dough ball-about the size of a baseball (see video recipe here)

2 Tbs flour (for dough prep)

2 Tbs cornmeal (to prevent sticking to pizza peel)

Olive oil, salt and pepper

Preparation and Grilling

Pre-heat your Grilled Pizza Stone using the charcoal grill technique found here or gas grill technique found here. Layer about three ounces of smoked pork shoulder, two slices deli ham, yellow mustard, a layer of pickles and top with two slices of thick cut Swiss cheese.  This will make an eight inch calzone.

Fold the dough over the toppings.  To seal the edges, pinch and pull the dough with your fingers all the way around.  Please see our calzone video to view this technique.  Gently pick up the calzone, and transfer it to a cookie sheet or pizza peel sprinkled with cornmeal. 

Carefully place the calzone onto the Grilled Pizza Stone, being careful not to touch the pizza stone, as it is very hot.

Replace the lid of the grill, and after approximately 5-7 minutes, flip the calzone using grill tongs.  Again, replace the lid of the grill, and grill another 5-7 minutes.  Use grill tongs to place the calzone on a plate and let it rest for 5 minutes.  Cut and serve hot!

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The Margherita pizza is the classic example of simple flavors using quality ingredients.  This isn’t your ordinary cheese pizza.  Your care in using quality ingredients like homemade tomato sauce, fresh mozzarella cheese and fresh basil will yield amazing results.

Drain the sliced mozzarella on a paper towel before dressing the pizza to avoid a soggy pizza.  The end result should be a crisp crust with gooey, melted cheese!

Basic red pizza sauce (see recipe below)

Fresh ball mozzarella, sliced thin

Grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese (optional)

Fresh basil, torn

Salt and pepper

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Pizza dough rolled to ¼ inch thick

Prepare your pizza dough for toppings by first spreading a thin layer of olive oil (to the edges), and seasoning with salt and pepper.   To maximize your prep time, once rolled, place the dough on a cookie sheet or pizza peel.  If using fresh dough, first sprinkle a liberal amount of cornmeal on the peel/sheet to avoid sticking while transferring to the Grilled Pizza Stone.  For more tips and tricks on dough preparation, view our dough video at www.redskygrilling.com/recipes.

Dress the pizza with your favorite, basic red pizza sauce.  Top with thinly sliced mozzarella.  Sprinkle freshly torn basil on top (alternatively you can add the basil when the pizza is removed from the grill).  Finish with a drizzle of olive oil and a pinch of salt and pepper.

Basic Red Pizza Sauce

We like to make a large batch of pizza sauce at once.  Storing the pizza sauce in plastic baggies (about a cup’s worth of sauce per baggie) and freezing them is a great time-saver.  There are many different ways to make basic red pizza sauce, here is my favorite.  I strongly suggest you use San Marzano tomatoes, for the extra few dollars per tin, the upgrade in flavor is well worth it.

Ingredients:

2 28 ounce tins of whole plum tomatoes (San Marzano preferably)

1 Small onion

4 Cloves of garlic

3 Tablespoons of olive oil

1 Tablespoon of crushed red pepper flakes (optional)

½ Tablespoon of dried oregano

½ Tablespoon of dried thyme

1 Cup of chicken stock or white wine or red wine

2 Tablespoons of sherry vinegar

Fresh Basil and/or Fresh Oregano (optional)

Salt to taste

Preheat a large sauce pan or dutch-oven on medium-high.  Pour the contents of the tomato tins into a large bowl.  Using your hands (time to roll up your sleeves) crush the tomatoes as finely as possible.  Peel an onion and remove the top and bottom.  Peel the garlic.  Puree both in a blender.  Add olive oil to sauce pan until shimmering.  Pour onion/garlic mixture into pan.  Sauté until mixture just starts to turn golden (about 3 minutes).  Add the dried herbs and pepper flakes and cook for one more minute.  Deglaze the pan with either the chicken stock or wine and let reduce by half.  Add the sherry vinegar (it really makes the flavors come alive) and carefully pour in the tomatoes.  If you have fresh basil or oregano, take a few fronds or stems and place them in the sauce.  Bring to a boil, and then simmer for 15 minutes.  Remove the fresh basil or oregano.  Salt to taste.  That’s it…you’re done!  Let cool before using on pizza or storing for future use.

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Basic red pizza sauce (recipe below)

Fontina, shredded

White onion, sliced 1/8”

Baby spinach, roughly chopped

Prosciutto di Parma, sliced thin

Salt and pepper

Olive oil, high quality-extra virgin, cold-pressed

Prepare your pizza dough for toppings by first spreading a thin layer of olive oil (to the edges), and seasoning with salt and pepper.   To maximize your prep time, once rolled, place the dough on a cookie sheet or pizza peel.  If using fresh dough, first sprinkle a liberal amount of cornmeal on the peel/sheet to avoid sticking while transferring to the Grilled Pizza Stone.  For more tips and tricks on dough preparation, view our dough video here.

Dress the pizza with your favorite, basic red pizza sauce.  Sprinkle shredded fontina cheese on top, and add the chopped spinach.  Finish with the sliced onions.  Grill the pizza with your Grilled Pizza Stone.  When the pizza comes off the stone, dollop the prosciutto onto the cooked pizza and drizzle with the olive oil.

Basic Red Pizza Sauce

We like to make a large batch of pizza sauce at once.  Storing the pizza sauce in plastic baggies (about a cup’s worth of sauce per baggie) and freezing them is a great time-saver.  There are many different ways to make basic red pizza sauce, here is my favorite.  I strongly suggest you use San Marzano tomatoes, for the extra few dollars per tin, the upgrade in flavor is well worth it.

Ingredients:

2 28 ounce tins of whole plum tomatoes (San Marzano preferably)

1 Small onion

4 Cloves of garlic

3 Tablespoons of olive oil

1 Tablespoon of crushed red pepper flakes (optional)

½ Tablespoon of dried oregano

½ Tablespoon of dried thyme

1 Cup of chicken stock or white wine or red wine

2 Tablespoons of sherry vinegar

Fresh Basil and/or Fresh Oregano (optional)

Salt to taste

Preheat a large sauce pan or dutch-oven on medium-high.  Pour the contents of the tomato tins into a large bowl.  Using your hands (time to roll up your sleeves) crush the tomatoes as finely as possible.  Peel an onion and remove the top and bottom.  Peel the garlic.  Puree both in a blender.  Add olive oil to sauce pan until shimmering.  Pour onion/garlic mixture into pan.  Sauté until mixture just starts to turn golden (about 3 minutes).  Add the dried herbs and pepper flakes and cook for one more minute.  Deglaze the pan with either the chicken stock or wine and let reduce by half.  Add the sherry vinegar (it really makes the flavors come alive) and carefully pour in the tomatoes.  If you have fresh basil or oregano, take a few fronds or stems and place them in the sauce.  Bring to a boil, and then simmer for 15 minutes.  Remove the fresh basil or oregano.  Salt to taste.  That’s it…you’re done!  Let cool before using on pizza or storing for future use.

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Clam lovers unite!  These garlicky, briny pizzas are for everyone who loves littlenecks.  It starts with a quick but flavor-rich sauce using garlic, red pepper flakes, chopped clams, lemons, and wine.  On the pizza we add grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese and sprinkle chopped spinach.  For the red pizza we combine our clam sauce with a basic tomato sauce.

Garlic, sliced (about 4-5 large cloves)

Sliced shallot

Red pepper flake (large pinch)

Chopped clams (16 ounces, liquor drained and reserved)

White wine (1/2 cup)

Lemon juice from half a lemon

Unsalted butter (1 Tbsp)

Grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

Chopped spinach

Tomato sauce (1/2 cup if using for a red clam pizza)

Dough

Salt and pepper

Olive oil

In a cool sauté pan, coat the bottom with olive oil.  Add the sliced shallot, garlic, and pepper flake.  Turn on burner to medium heat for about ten minutes.  The shallot and garlic should cook slowly, do not let them turn brown.  Add reserved clam liquor, wine and lemon juice and bring to a boil, let reduce by half.  Add chopped clams and heat through.  Take sauce off burner and stir in butter.  This will make enough clam sauce for two medium pizzas.  Combine half of clam sauce with tomato sauce if you are making a red clam pizza, and heat through to combine.

Prepare your pizza dough for toppings by first spreading a thin layer of olive oil (to the edges), and seasoning with salt and pepper.   To maximize your prep time, once rolled, place the dough on a cookie sheet or pizza peel.  If using fresh dough, first sprinkle a liberal amount of cornmeal on the peel/sheet to avoid sticking while transferring to the Grilled Pizza Stone.  For more tips and tricks on dough preparation, view our dough video here.

Dress the pizza with chopped spinach.  Add either the red or white clam sauce and the grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese.  Add more red pepper flake, salt and pepper to taste.  Grill the pizzas using the Grilled Pizza Stone and enjoy!

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One of the great things about pizza is it’s reflection of the eater’s personal taste.  For our veggie pizzas we made two very different pizzas using similar ingredients.  We added sliced jalapenos for my pizza, making it a spicy pie, and for my wife’s pizza, spinach added an earthy, subtle flavor.

Basic red pizza sauce (recipe below)

Fontina cheese, shredded

Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, grated

Bell peppers (any color), sliced 1/4” thick

Jalapeno pepper, sliced 1/4” thick

Yellow onion, sliced 1/4” thick

Baby spinach leaves

Salt and pepper

Olive oil

Prepare your pizza dough for toppings by first spreading a thin layer of olive oil (to the edges), and seasoning with salt and pepper.   To maximize your prep time, once rolled, place the dough on a cookie sheet or pizza peel.  If using fresh dough, first sprinkle a liberal amount of cornmeal on the peel/sheet to avoid sticking while transferring to the Grilled Pizza Stone.  For more tips and tricks on dough preparation, view our dough video here.

Dress the pizza with your favorite, basic red pizza sauce.  Sprinkle shredded fontina and Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese.  Finish with any combination of sliced peppers, onions and spinach.  Drizzle with some olive oil, and just a pinch of salt and pepper. 

Basic Red Pizza Sauce

We like to make a large batch of pizza sauce at once.  Storing the pizza sauce in plastic baggies (about a cup’s worth of sauce per baggie) and freezing them is a great time-saver.  There are many different ways to make basic red pizza sauce, here is my favorite.  I strongly suggest you use San Marzano tomatoes, for the extra few dollars per tin, the upgrade in flavor is well worth it.

Ingredients:

2 28 ounce tins of whole plum tomatoes (San Marzano preferably)

1 Small onion

4 Cloves of garlic

3 Tablespoons of olive oil

1 Tablespoon of crushed red pepper flakes (optional)

½ Tablespoon of dried oregano

½ Tablespoon of dried thyme

1 Cup of chicken stock or white wine or red wine

2 Tablespoons of sherry vinegar

Fresh Basil and/or Fresh Oregano (optional)

Salt to tast

Preheat a large sauce pan or dutch-oven on medium-high.  Pour the contents of the tomato tins into a large bowl.  Using your hands (time to roll up your sleeves) crush the tomatoes as finely as possible.  Peel an onion and remove the top and bottom.  Peel the garlic.  Puree both in a blender.  Add olive oil to sauce pan until shimmering.  Pour onion/garlic mixture into pan.  Sauté until mixture just starts to turn golden (about 3 minutes).  Add the dried herbs and pepper flakes and cook for one more minute.  Deglaze the pan with either the chicken stock or wine and let reduce by half.  Add the sherry vinegar (it really makes the flavors come alive) and carefully pour in the tomatoes.  If you have fresh basil or oregano, take a few fronds or stems and place them in the sauce.  Bring to a boil, and then simmer for 15 minutes.  Remove the fresh basil or oregano.  Salt to taste.  That’s it…you’re done!  Let cool before using on pizza or storing for future use.

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