Grilled Pizza, Mexican style

Pizza is alive and well in Mexico, and it's easy to enjoy a pizza, on the grill, one of the common ways pizza is cooked in Mexico.

Photo: It's late afternoon, Saturday, January 11, 2025, and I've fired up my Weber "Smokey Joe" grill for pizza tonight. I'm using locally grown and gathered oak wood, which abundantly grows everywhere in Placer Country. Oak is a great wood for grilling, as it burns hot and is nearly identical to hickory.

Photo: After grilling over direct heat for about 15 minutes, I removed the lid to take a peek and pose with my almost-ready grilled pizza.

Photo: My pizza and a jalapeno pepper have been on the grill for about 15 minutes, and have about five minutes to go. When you're grilling over oak chunks, nothing is exact or critical. I grilled the pizza over direct heat for about 20 minutes total, which seemed about right. I'd guess the temperature was most likely around 350 degrees, as the pizza was just inches over the glowing wood.

Photo: My pizza is ready to remove from the grill and enjoy for this Saturday evening dinner.

Today I used a personal size pre-made pizza crust that I purchased at our nearby supermarket. In the past, I've made pizza dough from scratch, and it's well-worth the effort, but tonight I was lazy, as I had a pizza crust in the freezer, so that's what I used. I made the pizza sauce from scratch with a recipe I found online. Also, many cans of tomato paste will have a recipe for pizza sauce.

I topped the crust and sauce with cooked chorizo and sausage, tomato slices, white onion, jalapeno peppers, black olives and shredded Mexican cheese. Naturally, I assembled the pizza before placing it on the grill. I allowed the grill to come up to the required heat, and the wood to smoke before placing the pizza on the grill and covering it with the lid. Total grilling time was about 20 minutes over direct heat.

Please note that is what worked for me today, as it could be different during my next grilling session. Grilling over oak is not exact, and it's not rocket science!

Photo: I cut the pizza into quarters with a sharp knife, grabbed a cold one, and enjoyed a fine Saturday evening dinner.