Easy Recipes for the Grill & Cucina – Paggi Pazzo

From Picasso to Dali to Xavi and Iniesta, Spain has had it’s share of world famous creators and inspirators (what’s that? Xavi and Iniesta can’t hold a candle to Picasso and Dali? How many European and World cups did they win? Thought so!). However, when it comes to pizza most do not associate the Spaniards with this Italian classic but don’t underestimate the power of Spanish pizza as the Iberian nation’s traditional ingredients can make any entree or recipe a mouth-watering one. Today I’m sharing my Spanish style pizza with Manchego cheese, chorizo, and pimientos on the grill over pecan and oak charcoal wood, which may give you a new idea on how to prepare pizza with a Spanish twist (even if you don’t speak Spanish)!

To begin our Spanish style pizza, we need to prepare the dough and traditional Spanish pizza is much like Roman pizza, which means very thin. To make things easier I used my homemade dough recipe but purchased all Spanish products in chorizo, Manchego cheese, pimientos and added fresh Italian parsley since Spanish parsley is hard to find near where I live. If you can’t find Spanish chorizo it is better to use Portuguese Linguiça as it is more like it’s Iberian neighbors in texture and flavor than chorizo from Mexico or Central or South America. For the sauce I prepared a traditional marinara sauce but if you want to give it a little zest (like a Xavi-Iniesta golasso – you knew I was coming back to them, didn’t you?), add sweet Spanish paprika with fresh parsley, garlic and Spanish olive oil for several minutes before adding crushed tomatoes, cooked at low heat for 90 minutes-to-2 hours. Once we have our dough ready, lay out on the pizza stone and dress sauce, then add chopped fresh parsley before shredding Manchego cheese. Add chopped chorizo and pimientos (Spanish roasted red peppers) then a drizzle of Spanish olive oil and you’re ready to go!

Now get your wood charcoal fire going with hardwood lump charcoal and pecan and oak wood chunks. Once they’re grey, add to the grill pit and position your grates to hold the pizza stone evenly across the wood charcoal (you can manipulate the heat by opening your grill fans and changing the distance under the pizza stone from the fire). Close the grill and let the Spanish pizza cook for 20 minutes and once the crust becomes a golden brown on the bottom, it’s ready to be devoured! Let it cool for a few minutes and then you’re ready to serve. So there you have it, Spanish style pizza from Paggi Pazzo, Salud mi amigos!

Spanish Style Pizza Recipe on the Grill

Prep time: 3 hours
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 3 hours 25 mi
Yield: 8 slices

Ingredients

• 14 ounces peeled tomatoes (San Marzano)
• 3 ounces Manchego cheese (imported)
• 4 cloves garlic
• 4 tablespoons Spanish olive oil
• 4 fresh parsley leaves
• 2 1/2 cups Molino Caputo tipo 00 flour
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon yeast
• 3/4 cup water
• 1 Spanish chorizo
• 2 tablespoons Spanish Sabor de Rioja pimientos (roasted red peppers)

Cooking Directions

1. In order to make dough, heat water in a pot for 2-3 minutes until warm then place in a bowl with salt and stir well for several minutes
2. Add yeast into the bowl and stir for at least 5 minutes until yeast dissolves
3. Add 2 cups of Molino Caputo tipo 00 flour to bowl, pouring slowly as you stir, then a tablespoon of olive oil and continue to stir for at least 10 minutes, until dough begins to turn into an elastic substance
4. Place dough on a cutting board or cooking sheet and cover all sides with a little flour then cover with a damp towel or plastic wrap and place under a bowl for at least 3 hours
5. In order to make the sauce, add 3 tablespoons of oil to pan at medium heat for 2 minutes.
6. Add finely chopped garlic and fresh chopped parsley for 3-5 minutes
7. Place peeled tomatoes in a bowl and chop whole parts into chunks, then add to pan with salt and pepper and cook at low heat for 3 hours
8. After 3 hours, take dough and kneed for several minutes, covering with flour as necessary until all air bubbles are removed. Then take dough roller and roll, adding more flour when necessary, to a circular shape and creating a very thin crust similar to a Roman style pizza
9. Dress pizza stone lightly with olive oil then place dough on top, curling edges slightly to create outside crust
10. Add healthy amount of sauce on top of pizza dough and finely chopped fresh parsley
11. Shred Manchego cheese across pizza (do not cover all sauce with Manchego, if you do, you’ve used too much cheese)
12. Finely chop Spanish chorizo, and pimientos and also spread generously across pizza
13. To start your grill, fill two chimney starters with lump hardwood charcoal and pecan and oak wood chunks, ignited underneath by olive oil dressed paper towel or newspaper. Once wood charcoal is ready dump into grill pit
14. Create opening on grill by moving grates to sides and place pizza stone over wood charcoal directly, supported by outside grates
15. Grill for 20 minutes, covering grill and opening seldomly to make sure pizza is cooking evenly (or to pop air bubbles). If pizza is cooking to fast or too slowly, adjust distance between charcoal fire and pizza stone
16. After 20 minutes and crust is a golden brown, remove from grill
17. Add whole fresh parsley leaves for garnish if you’d like and let rest for 5 minutes
18. Ready to serve!