If you haven’t gotten into the sourdough starter craze yet, its not too late. In fact, I am going to keep mine going forever now, so I always have it on hand to make something fabulous… like this pancetta pizza I made on the grill for lunch using my “discard”.
The painful side to the sourdough starter method is that when you “feed” you’re little baby {in my case “Puff”} you have to throw out half of the mix in order for the starter to thrive… and that seems so wasteful and sad.
But there are actually many recipe that call for “discard” or “unfed” starter. These are usually types of flatbreads and may call for some yeast to help perk things up. After making this recipe for Sourdough Pizza Crust from King Arthur flour, I look forward to feeding day so I can make up another batch.
I am going to walk you through how I made this grilled goodness, but once you follow the recipe to make the dough all of the ingredients are really up for modification to suit your tastes. I followed the recipe and while the dough was resting {about 2 hours in a warm place inside, not in the sun, that was just for the photo shoot} I “made” my marinara sauce.
My go-to prepared Marinara is by Pomi, I always have a couple of these tetra pack boxes in my pantry. I think it tastes so fresh, flavorful and distinctly Italian! To bump up the flavor a bit I poured about a tablespoon of olive oil and 1/2 tablespoon of chopped garlic in a small sauce pan and let it cook over medium heat for 1 minute, then I poured in about 3/4 of a cup of the Pomi Marinara sauce and let it gently simmer.
After the dough had risen to about double in size I stretched 1/2 of the the dough out and flattened it on a stiff silicone cutting board. This recipe is for 2 pizzas and I was only making one, so I put the the other 1/2 of the dough in the refrigerator to use another day. Then I let it rest again, for a 1/2 hour or so it could “loosen up” or relax a little, while I prepared the toppings.
The topping for the pizza are totally up to your imagination, taste or what you can find in your refrigerator or pantry. Here is what I prepped: I sautéed 6 slices of Boars Head Pancetta until crispy. Cut in ten Ciliegine {cherry sized Bel Gioioso fresh mozzarella balls} in half and also prepared chopped parsley and basil chiffonade.
About 20 minutes before I was ready to cook I fired up my grill and left it on high for about 5 minutes to get the grill really hot. Then I reduced the heat to medium/ medium low {our grill get really hot}. I lit 2 of my 3 grilling sections, so that I would have an indirect heating area as well as plenty of flames to hit the entire pizza.
When the dough relaxed a bit {about 1/2 hour later} I brushed olive oil on the revealed side.
Then I flipped the oiled surface onto the hot, clean grill.
After it had bubbled and the underside has been marked and was stiff {about 3 minutes} I used a spatula and tongs to flip it over.
Then I quickly got to work building my “ZAW”. First, a lavish layer of the garlicky marinara sauce.
Next I evenly distributed the Ciliegine {cherry sized Bel Gioioso fresh mozzarella balls} and crispy pancetta.
I finished it off with a sprinkling of grated Parmesan cheese.
Then close the lid and let the cheese melt. I checked on the the pie after about 5 minutes. After lifting it to look at the underside of the crust, I saw the bottom looked nicely charred and crunchy, but the cheese, on top, hadn’t melted as much as I hoped. So, I shifted the pizza over to the unlit section of the grill and closed the lid, to keep the heat in until the sauce was bubbly and the cheeses were nicely melted.
For the grand finale, I drizzled on some olive oil and sprinkled the pie with the parsley and basil.
Then, oh what pure JOY it was to cut into that crunchy, slightly chewy crust with the gooey cheese sticking to the knife with each cutting motion!!
I served it with a garden lettuce salad dressed with olive oil, red wine vinegar and Maldon seasalt and we sat on the deck and devoured every single bite!
I hope this inspires you to look in your refrigerator and pantry to make something magnificent on the grill. And, even to make a sourdough starter if you haven’t already. Here’s the method I used Sourdough Starter recipe from King Arthur flour.
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