Wild Mushroom Grilled Pizza

The last time I grilled pizza, I decided to do a simple wild mushroom ‘za. Just cuz I had some wild shrooms from my wonderful dad. Have I mentioned how much he spoils me? I am so so very lucky …

The mushrooms were fantastic, but really the best part about this pizza was the crust. The crust had such a wonderful flavor, probably because I used the liquid from cooking up the morel mushrooms along with some tomato juice for the liquid in the dough. Morel mushrooms are full of moisture. When you cook them up, the moisture releases and you end up with a sort of soupy mushroom mixture. You can keep cooking to reduce the juice, or you can save that delicious mushroom juice for soup … or pizza crust. I made two pizzas with this crust: this mushroom one for me, and a cheese one for my daughter. I still had some dough left, so I let it rise while I was cooking the pizzas, then baked it up as “flatbread” … my son gobbled those up in no time.

Wild Mushroom Grilled Pizza

• Pizza dough
• Wild mushrooms (I used morels & shelf mushrooms, but others will work as well)
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 2 cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped fine
• Red Robin Seasoning (or your favorite seasoned salt)
• Your favorite pizza or pasta sauce
• Mozzarella or Italian blend of cheeses
• Fresh chives, garlic scapes, snipped, & fresh basil leaves

Heat a frying pan to medium high heat. Add the olive oil and swirl about in the pan, then add the mushrooms and garlic and sautee for a few minutes. Season to taste with Red Robin seasoning. If the mushrooms get dry, add some white wine and cover for a couple minutes till the mushrooms are soft and moist. Pour off any excess mushroom juice (or wine) to use in your pizza crust.

Make the dough for the pizza crust (see recipe below).

When the dough is ready, light up the coals on the grill, and when they are hot, pile the coals up on one side of the grill, leaving the other side empty to make a not-as-hot spot for the toppings to melt. (If you are using a gas grill, heat up one area to very hot and a lower heat area for melting the cheese.)

Arrange your mushrooms and cheese right next to the grill so you’re ready to top the pizza when the crust is ready.

Put the grate on the grill, and place a crust on the grill over the hot coals, cover and let it cook for 5-10 minutes, checking it periodically. The crust should start to bubble up a little and get brown on the bottom. Once it is nicely browned on the bottom, flip it over onto the cooler side of the grill, add the toppings and cover the grill again till the cheese is melted. (For some more pics showing how to grill pizza, see my Grilled Thai Chicken Pizza post.)

Top the pizza with chives, scapes and fresh basil, cut and enjoy!

Italian Mushroom Tomato Pizza Crust

• 1 cup liquid (I used about 1/4 cup juice from cooking the mushrooms, 1/2 cup tomato juice, and filled the rest of the cup with water)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups bread flour
• 1 cup unbleached white whole wheat flour
• 2 1/4 teaspoons yeast
• 2 teaspoons Italian Seasoning
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

Put all ingredients into the bread machine and put it on the dough setting. When the dough is done, divide it into four balls. Shape each ball into a disc shape, cover with a towel and let rest about 5 – 10 minutes. On a clean, flat surface sprinkled with cornmeal, roll out the dough for your crust with a rolling pin. Cover and let rest until the grill is ready and you have all your ingredients prepped and ready. The trick to grilling pizza is to have all the toppings ready to add to the pizza quickly as soon as you flip the dough over.

This recipe was shared at Weekend Potluck, Totally Tasty Tuesdays, and Thursday’s Treasures.