SCAMELDI'S FAMOUS

As I mentioned, we cooked a lot in Maine. My good friend Piera is one of the best cooks I know (she also happens to be style director of Refinery 29-- a fabulous web site without which I would be totally lost when it comes to navigating the tricky waters of finding one's own personal style). While I merely make "good tasting dishes" by closely following all of the cook book's directions, Piera cooks with intuition. I really admire this. I have aspirations to become like this. Here is her family recipe for grilled pizza. More recipes from the treasure vault that is Piera's mind coming soon, I hope!

Fresh Grilled Pizza Pie

Let pizza dough rise in a bowl with clean dishcloth covering it till it's 3x original size.

[we purchased ready made dough at the market... frozen or fresh works]

Heat olive oil in cast iron pan, add 3-4 crushed garlic cloves, when golden add 1 can crushed tomatoes, splash of red wine, pinch oregano...simmer until sauce is done (don't know how to describe when it's done)...add salt & pepper to taste.

When dough has risen, pick it up and stretch while turning dough (let gravity help to achieve a thin round shape). Put it down and knead with heels of hand until it's thin and even (sides will be thicker). Coat with thin layer of olive oil, sprinkle bottom with cornmeal.

Place on grill cornmeal side up. Cook for 2-3 minutes moving occasionally on grill to avoid sticking. It will start to bubble. Flip pizza and cook cornmeal side 1-2 minutes.

Remove from grill. Spread with thin layer of sauce, thin slices fresh mozzerella, thin slices fresh tomatoes, thin slices garlic, and torn fresh basil (optional, sprinkle with parmesan), and salt & pepper.

Place pizza back on grill and close top...cook another few minutes until toppings are warmed and bottom is a little charred

Done!

You can experiment with toppings but they need to be pre cooked since they only get warmed in final step.