Grilled Pizza with Caramelized Onion and Salami

After a day-long search in our state capital, I emerged victorious. After visiting several grocery stores I finally found frozen pizza dough. But not after several store employees acted as if I were crazy! I see recipes that call for it all the time, but around here all you can find is the Pillsbury-in-the-tube kind. After all that hunting and gathering, of course we had to have pizza tonight. After a quick blog search for grilled pizza recipes, I settled on Grilled Pizza with Caramelized Onion and Salami from The Kitchen Sink. Things were proceeding according to plan ... until it's started pouring rain. So much for the grill. So I ended up using a grill pan on the stove. We stayed dry and the pizza turned out perfectly: crust crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside. Mmmmm! Definitely a recipe that will be repeated around here.


Grilled Pizza with Caramelized Onion and Salami
Recipe courtesy of The Kitchen Sink

1 recipe your favorite pizza dough, stretched into a rectangle
extra virgin olive oil
1 cups your favorite tomato sauce (see below) -- (1 to 2)
1 ball of mozzarella, sliced into thin rounds
12 thin slices salami
1 red onion -- thinly sliced (and caramelized, if desired)
fine-grain sea salt
several basil leaves

Prepare a grill. Brush the top of the dough rectangle with olive oil. When the grill is heated, transfer the dough to the grill, placing it directly on the rack, oiled side down. Quickly brush the top with olive oil and close the grill. Grill for 2 to 3 minutes. Using tongs or a spatula, turn the dough over and grill an additional 2 to 3 minutes. Remove the grill to a pizza peel or the back of baking sheet.

Top the par-grilled pizza with your desired amount of sauce. Top the sauce with the mozzarella slices. Top the mozzarella with the salami. Top the salami with the onions. Return the pizza to the grill and grill for 3 to 5 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and browned. (If you’re worried about the grill being too hot at this point, simply turn off the grill and allow the cheese to melt in the residual heat that remains in the grill.)

Sprinkle lightly with sea salt and top with basil leaves to serve.

Update: I got a couple requests for the tomato sauce recipe, so I’m updating this post with the recipe. The sauce is rich and sweet and, best of all, it highlights the simple, beautiful flavor of tomatoes. I don’t cook much with butter (I usually use olive oil), but it makes all the difference here.

Tomato Sauce

Note: This will yield more sauce than you’ll need for the pizza recipe above. Leftovers make an excellent simple pasta sauce and also freeze well.

1 tablespoon butter
1 small onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 28-ounce can whole San Marzano tomatoes
salt and pepper
splash red wine
pinch of sugar

In a large skillet, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook for several minutes, until the onions have softened. Add the tomatoes, salt, pepper, wine and sugar. Simmer for 20 to 30 minutes.

Using an immersion blender, food processor or blender, puree the sauce until smooth.