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It’s getting hot around here! Okay, maybe not as hot as the above temperature gauge indicates. That’s the temp inside our grill.

Summer is here, which means heat. Sure, in Colorado it’s usually a fairly dry heat, but temps over 80 degrees in the house are not fun even if it is “dry.” We’ve only had 1 or 2 days with daytime highs over 90 degrees so far, but that already indicates that this summer is not going to be a repeat of last summer’s moderate temps. Now that DH got the grill going we can still cook at home (and use up all the wonderful produce from our CSA) without making the house even hotter. Though clouds had rolled in late yesterday afternoon we powered up the grill and made pizza for dinner last night.

Drew did the vast majority of the work for this meal. Around midday he set the bread machine up to make a variation on the pizza crust recipe in our favorite bread machine cookbook by Beth Hensperger, The Bread Lover’s Bread Machine Cookbook. He opted to go with some whole wheat flour in the recipe and increased the liquid a touch to accommodate that. Then it was refrigerated for the afternoon. Letting it sit longer allows the whole wheat flour to absorb the liquid better and the dough to develop a bit more flavor.

Drew then split the dough and let it rest to come up to temperature for about 45 minutes before forming it into the rustic ovals/rectangles that fit so well on the grill. When grilling pizza the total cooking time is quite a bit less than when baking in the oven and the top gets much less heat due to opening the grill lid so we always grill one side of the crust lightly first (3-5 minutes should do it) and then add the toppings on the partially baked side.

It is a snap moving the crust on the grill if you have a proper pizza paddle. Much better than my first attempt when I used a baking sheet. But, in a pinch that works too! Ours is a thin metal one with a rather long wooden handle that we picked up at our local restaurant supply store. The long handle makes it a bit of a storage headache, but the length is handy when it is actually put to use so we deal with it.

I chopped and sauteed onions and the cremini mushrooms with a touch of rosemary before topping the pizza to ensure they would be fully cooked. To keep the meal easy and rustic we skipped a sauce and let the ingredients and crust shine.

But we did not skip the cheese! I grew up on a dairy farm in Minnesota, I cannot skip cheese! DH makes cheese, he cannot skip cheese!

Once topped, we grilled it again for probably 8-10 minutes with the lid closed so the cheese on top gets all melty and bubbly. Above is a peek at the “grill cam” view of the crust when it is ready to remove. Again, a proper pizza peel makes this process much easier.

Even with our rustic rectangular shape we were able to enjoy triangular pieces. I’m a bit of a purist that way. Pizza should be in triangles. Well, except for the awesome Jake’s pizza in Willmar. And perhaps the pizza at The Rustic Oven…

Then, inspired by our need to consume massive amounts of spinach and a wonderful pizza at Cafe Vino we topped our slices with some chopped, fresh spinach. Then drizzled it lightly with balsamic vinegar and a tiny sprinkle of kosher salt. It ups the nutritional value a bit and gives you almost a pizza and salad in one sort of meal. I have to say that the balsamic really made it sparkle. I’m so glad we both had the idea to add that finishing touch.

I have a feeling the grill is going to be put through its paces this summer now that is up and running. What are your favorite things to grill?