Dinner Rush! Grilled Shrimp Florentine Pizza
That grill’s starting to get a workout, huh? You’re grilling chicken, you’re grilling steaks, you might even be grilling your salad*. Might as well throw a pizza on there, too.
When it comes to grilled pizza, there are two schools of thought. Some play it safe and put a pizza stone on the grate. This tried-and-true approach is perfectly tailored for those who happen to have a stone (and a propensity for tradition).
The other, more lustfully adventurous option: direct dough-to-grill contact. While the idea may sound risky, rest assured that it’s completely safe and nothing like those cooking-fail images with the frozen pizza melted through the oven racks. Victory rests in working with your grill’s heat and moving the pizza around to keep it cooking evenly. Simply brush one side of the dough with oil and cook that side first. Slide the half-cooked dough onto a sheet pan, brush the raw side with a bit of oil and invert it. Top away, then use the pan to carefully slide the pie back over the heat to finish up cooking, rotating the crust as needed to keep everything nice and even.
*About that whole grilled salad comment, it’s totally a thing. This Grilled Romaine with Charred Grapefruit Dressing would be a perfect accompaniment to your grilled pizza.
Preheat grill to medium-high heat.
Toss shrimp with 1 tablespoon olive oil, and some salt and pepper. Grill until pink and just about cooked through, 2 to 3 minutes per side. Remove shrimp from grill and reserve.
In a mixing bowl combine ricotta, Parmigiano-Reggiano, Romano, shallot, garlic, parsley, thyme, spinach and lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper, then reserve.
Lightly dust a work surface with flour and stretch out the dough to about 1/4 inch thick. Brush one side with some of the remaining olive oil and place the oiled side of the dough on the grill. Cook until lightly charred, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove dough from the grill onto a sheet pan, brush raw side with the remaining olive oil and invert so that the raw side is down.
Spread spinach-cheese mixture onto the cooked side of the dough and top with grilled shrimp and mozzarella. Return pizza to grill and reduce heat to medium. Continue grilling pizza until dough is cooked through and cheese is melted, rotating the pizza on the grill as needed to ensure even cooking, 4 to 5 minutes.
Remove pizza from grill, slice and serve.
Patrick W. Decker’s life revolves around food. Always has, probably always will. As a graduate of The Culinary Institute of America and past member of the culinary teams for Food Network stars Rachael Ray, Sandra Lee, Marc Forgione and Bobby Deen, he now works on digital production for FoodNetwork.com, CookingChannelTV.com and Food.com in NYC by day and develops recipes at his home in New York’s Hudson Valley by night. You can see what he’s up to by following him on Twitter & Instagram at @patrickwdecker or visiting his website at patrickwdecker.com.
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