Are you READY?!?! Return of Grilled Pizzas :)

Believe it or not, Hubs still had not tried Grilled Pizzas!

Hubs' April deployment last year meant he missed a number of things...

He missed the rainy mud season indicative of a New England Spring.  He missed the beautiful shades of green and blossoming flowers of June.  He missed the family BBQs and beach time with friends in July.  He missed the sunsets and s'mores of August.  He missed the VT fall, returning to cool November and making it home just in time for the snow.

Although he was in 100+ degree weather in the middle of a desert, those 7 months away from the beautiful changing seasons must have felt like hibernation.

With the official start of summer just around the corner, Hubs has already begun to take in and indulge in all that he missed last year while overseas.  He has taken back the duty of mowing our lawn, trimming our trees, working on the garden, etc...it's pretty great to have a man around the house again :)

Can you believe I've been so absent minded to forget Hubs had not experienced the ease, versatility and tastiness of the grilled pizza?!?!

Pizza 1:  Tomato, Basil, Olive Oil

 

Big Pizza 2:  Spinach and Garlic Chicken Sausage, Mushrooms, Bell Peppers and Red Onion

Pizza 3:  Leftovers from Pizza 1 and Big Pizza 2 with Turkey Pepperoni...'The Supreme'

(btw did you know Turkey Pepperoni has 70% less fat than the regular stuff and still tastes pretty darn good?!?!)

 

Fresh Mozzarella for all 3 Grilled Pizza Creations

Homemade pizza sauce for Big Pizza 2 and Pizza 3.

The sauce was a simmered combo of Canned Roma Tomatoes (2010 garden), tomato paste, fresh thyme (2011 garden), garlic, red pepper flake and salt/pepper. 

This sauce was super concentrated flavor with a spicy bite!

 

Over by the Naan in our grocery store, I noticed this new round Flatbread Pizza Crust, so thought we'd give it a whirl!

All the toppings were piled on and they hit the grill.

(In case you need a quick refresher...before piling on, I brush the bottoms of the crust with a bit of canola oil, and then the tops with some olive oil.  The goodies are piled on and the pizzas are grilled over indirect heat)

 

Big Pizza 2 on top of the new Flatbread Crust (which I will buy again).

 

Pizza 1 and Pizza 3 on Garlic Naan, yum!

Fresh Basil was added to finish off Pizza 1 and...

 

and Pizza 3

 

Big Pizza 2 all melty and done

After spending years in search of a good pizza joint for us, we thought we had found 'The One' just a couple months ago.  Let me tell you...these grilled beauties tasted so good, Hubs said they were the best pizzas we'd had in a long time...and better than pizza from 'The One'!

While it's nice to hear such positive remarks on the grilled pizza creations...'The One' is still going to be our go-to when even grilled pizzas are too much and I simply need a night off from the kitchen  ;)

Girls Night - More Grilled Pizza

Alright, since the recent grilled pizza creations have been all the rage, I am officially declaring July as the Official Grilled Pizza Month.

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That is not to say I will not enjoy grilled pizzas from this point on, but my goal is to make them less frequently. Next July we can go overboard again, perhaps make a challenge of it...Grilled Pizza 3 x Day could be interesting or how about Grilled Pizza _____. We have a year to fill in that blank and so with this post I officially also declare the end to Grilled Pizza Month.
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Alright have you gotten the hint yet? I'm having dinner with Blue Light (aka Girls' Night!).

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Though she does not consider herself a picky eater...she kind of is.

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I text'ed, 'do you like shrimp' and the reply was 'NO!'

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I asked 'do you eat goat cheese?' and received no response.

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Since she was unsurprisingly running late, I decided to just pick up the phone to find out what she wanted for dinner.

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I asked if she liked goat cheese and she didn't know.

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Then I asked if she liked arugula (I have a TON from the garden right now) and her reply was 'arug-a-what?'

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I also know she does not care for - fresh tomatoes, salad dressing, anything spicy, etc. Beginning to get a bit flustered for something to come up with, she did offer a helpful bit of advice...'just make something simple.'

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Right, keep it simple stupid!

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White naan, store bought tomato sauce and fresh thyme from the garden.

I LOVE thyme in my tomato sauce, yum!
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I do know that one of Blue Light's most favorite things to eat is fresh mozzarella and prosciutto.
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Piled high, this pizza was dedicated to her.
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Now for my likings :)

Pink Lady apples, brie...

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and some applewood smoked ham woven in!

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The pizzas were grilled...

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and we're done in no time!

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Everything was melted and toasty.

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Since we've had this combo before, it was no surprise that it was tasty. What I didn't expect was how the other one would come out...

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It was freakin' AMAZING!!!

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I am not kidding when I say amazing either, it really hit the spot!
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The apples were not runny like the peaches from the last post. The brie was the perfect cheese to use. And the ham? Well the ham's edges toasted up and the smokey pork flavor brought it all together wonderfully.
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You really need to try this one! Even Blue Light loved it.

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During our fun evening, I did discuss her pickiness with her. She has now decided she will try everything once, including those things she doesn't think she likes :)
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I am happy and satisfied to be leaving you all with this final Grilled Pizza Month Post...it really is something!

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While I hope to get another post or two up this week, I may be dropping off for a while. I'm Cape-bound (WOOOHOOOO!) and reuniting with some of my dear college buddies for the annual summer gathering, can't wait!!!

Good in Theory...

We're going from WOW! with the Tuesday night taco fusion straight to...um, ok.

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From a recent physical at the MDs in the last week, I took away a few of things...

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1) All systems go - meaning everything checked out a-ok.

2) Women are only supposed to have 1-2 alcoholic beverages at a sitting...I think I knew that, but have so conveniently ignored the advice up to this point.

3) There are a couple habits to kick before Hubs' return...received lecture from Doc, check! Plan of attack, double check!!

4) I need to eat more fruit...

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Haha! I know it was a pretty good visit, right?!?! Happy and healthy is all you could ask for...but of the various points I took home, there is just one that's been on my mind - EAT MORE FRUIT!

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On the way home from the visit, I decided I would test my newest thoughts for the next grilled pizza creation...peaches!

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There have been some delicious Southern peaches at the local grocery making it the perfect time to put my plan into action. I pitted, sliced and arranged the peaches on whole wheat naan.
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My idea was to capture a salty/sweet combo on this one...
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so I picked up 6 slices of prosciutto from the deli counter.
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This time around I went with the VT made smoked mozzarella.

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(Sweet + Salty + Smokey) + Grilled = ?
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At least the color combo is purdy!

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I will shamefully admit FB and the blog distracted me a bit during the grill period...
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not a good thing :(

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Though I suspect it may have also been the whole wheat naan choice as well...never have the white variations burned up like this. We'll give it another try with the whole wheat, but I'm not optimistic.

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Next time I will also grill the peaches before putting them on the pizza...you know kick things up a notch.

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All in all it was an okay pizza creation, certainly not as good as the two previously posted. If I use peaches again (which I really want to make work), I think I will grill the peaches first, stick to white naan, use a different cheese and maybe even try a different meat. Suggestions are of course welcome!!

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Also on the drawing board - I'm contemplating an attempt for a grilled dessert pizza ;O)

The Number 9...Pizza Style

D'Angelo's, oh how I miss thee...
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Well it's true, from time to time I do! If your from New England, then you know just what I'm talking about. A bona fide 100% sub sandwich mecca, these guys know how to do things right.
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Never being outside of the Philly airport, I can't say what I think of the Philly Cheese Steak. I do suspect it is something that I would love, but until I'm faced with the difficult choice of Pat's or Geno's (or perhaps I'll have both!), I keep lusting after D'Angelo.
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A franchise business, these sub shops pop up just about everywhere throughout New England. Well everywhere except in my town!
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My husband and I just LOVE the Number 9. Best on the white grinder/sub roll, with mayo - it consists of finely shaved beef, sauteed onions, peppers, mushrooms and of course cheese. They melt the american cheese on the beef and veg mix just before it is swooped up and stuffed in the mayo lathered white roll. AWESOME. That is all there is to say, it - is - AWESOME!
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From time to time I do recreate this dish at home. Always close, but never the same. One evening I decided we needed to change up our pizza routine, so I created this Number 9...Pizza Style.
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The happy beginnings...lean steak, onions, peppers, mushrooms and garlic.

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The steak should be thinly sliced and usually I'll freeze the beef just long enough to make it firm and take the time to cut to the point of almost being shaved. By now you must all know by now that Pizza Night is very close to an after thought in our home, so I instead did my best considering the nature of the evening.
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The veggies are all sauteed in olive oil and garlic, then seasoned with salt/pepper.

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Once softened, they are placed to the side.
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In that same pan where the tasty mix of veg were cooked, goes the steak.

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Seasoned with salt and pepper, this is the juicy finished product.
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The pizza dough has rested, our toppings complete and now the assembly begins!

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I've said this before and I'll say it again - the key to Pizza Stone creations...corn meal! It really does help with the transfer from peel to oven and back out again. Not to mention it does wonderful things to the bottom of the crust for flavor.

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Now that's a pizza!

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Piled HIGH with Number 9 goodness :O)

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Fresh outta the oven.

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Our Number 9...Pizza Style!

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A delicious creation.

However the same still holds true always close, but never the same.

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I was tempted to try something crazy like incorporate mayo into this pizza somehow...but did wuss out.

How would I do this? Hmm, not sure ideas?!?!

There is always next time!