BBQ Pizza

This past Memorial Day weekend was a blast. It was filled with family fun going to a baseball game, a day at the lake, and a birthday party. What could get better than that, right? With that said, I prepared plenty of food for the family to tailgate at the Brewers game, as well as serve up lunch and dinner at the lake. I made everything from Korean barbecue, to smoked ribs, to pizzas on the grill, and plenty of things in between. As I thought my Korean barbecue would still the show that weekend, I believe it was the homemade pizzas on the grill that really shined.

As you probably have seen, I’ve been on a pizza kick now for some time. I can’t get enough pizza. At first I thought my go to food was tacos, but recently it has been coming up with all sorts of pizza creations. As I had came back from the weekend with a few leftovers, and realizing how awesome my cast iron skillet pizzas were on the grill, I set out to make more pizzas, including one that I could use up my leftovers, hence the BBQ pizza.

As we were coning off of the long weekend, I decided to use what I could to feed the family after a long work day. That included leftover Korean BBQ, a salad with fresh vegetables and grilled chicken, BBQ ribs, as well as some fried rice. Yes, I set out to get rid of leftovers. As I had made some pizza dough the day before, not realizing we were going over to my in-laws for dinner, I wanted to come up with some pizzas for freezing for the week as well. So as they ate, I made pizzas.

Let’s get started on this BBQ pizza.

Ingredients for the pizza dough: (Makes 3 skillet pizzas):

• 3 3/4 cup of bread flour
• 2 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
• 3/4 tsp table salt
• 3/4 plus a pinch of sugar
• 1 1/3 cups of room temperature water

Ingredients for the BBQ Pizza:

• 1/4 cup of pizza sauce
• 1/4 cup of your favorite BBQ Sauce
• 1 1/2 cups of shredded Mozzarella cheese
• 1/2 jalapeño pepper, chopped
• 1/2 small onion, thinly sliced
• 1 cup of leftover BBQ ribs, meat chopped
• 1 tbsp unsalted butter
• small cast iron skillet

Now I have been making these cast iron skillet pizzas because for one they are awesome, and two, as much as I love a thin crust pizza, I also love a nice deep style pizza that has a crispy exterior and a really soft interior.

Make the dough by adding the flour, yeast, salt, and sugar. Mix. Add the water, and with your wooden spoons, or hands, mix until blended. I use my KitchenAid for this process to keep everything in the bowl during the rising process. Mix for about 30 seconds. The dough should be a bit stiff. Cover the bowl with a towel, and let it sit at room temperature until the dough has doubled in volume, about 2 hours. You can do this ahead of time as well, and place in an oiled container, big enough to house the dough, and place in the refrigerator overnight.

Once risen, divide into three portions. With one of the portions, add some flour to a large pastry board, and take a portion of the dough, and form into a large enough piece to place in your cast iron skillet, just enough to have the dough come up the sides a bit.

Preheat your oven to 475 degrees, and place your cast iron skillet in the oven to preheat.

Have your ingredients ready.

Once the oven is preheated, use kitchen mits to remove the extremely hot cast iron skillet from the oven.

Toss in the butter, and give that a swirl. Add the portion of rolled out dough and place on the bottom of the cast iron skillet, being careful not to burn yourself. Try to push and form the dough just so it creeps up the edge of the skillet.

Add the pizza sauce and barbecue sauce on top of the dough, and mix that with a spoon, covering the majority of the dough.

Top with most of the shredded cheese, leaving a bit for the topping.

Add the chopped rib meat, then top with the thinly sliced onions and jalapeño peppers. Top with any remaining mozzarella cheese.

Use your kitchen mits, and place the cast iron skillet back into the oven, and cook for about 25 minutes. Around that time, take the skillet out, and run a butter knife around the skillet. Gently lift to make sure the bottom of the crust is golden brown. Once browned and the cheese is nice and melted, remove the pizza from the oven.

Drizzle with a bit more of the barbecue sauce.  Let the pizza rest for about 10 minutes, then carefully lift it out onto a pizza board, or cutting board before serving. Slice into wedges and enjoy.

This pizza was pretty darn amazing. Not only will you fall in love with the crust, but biting into you get that sweet heat. I like barbecue pizzas to begin with, but that added jalapeño pepper, really balances out that sweetness, and smokiness of the sauce and ribs.

If you are looking for a new pizza idea, and have some leftovers, or not, give this one a shot. I’m certain you will love it.

Print

BBQ Pizza

Cuisine Pizza

Prep Time 2 hours hours 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes minutes

Total Time 3 hours hours

Servings 5

Author Dax Phillips

Ingredients

• Ingredients for the pizza dough: Makes 3 skillet pizzas:
• 3 3/4 cup of bread flour
• 2 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
• 3/4 tsp table salt
• 3/4 plus a pinch of sugar
• 1 1/3 cups of room temperature water
• Ingredients for the BBQ Pizza:
• 1/4 cup of pizza sauce
• 1/4 cup of your favorite BBQ Sauce
• 1 1/2 cups of shredded Mozzarella cheese
• 1/2 jalapeño pepper chopped
• 1/2 small onion thinly sliced
• 1 cup of leftover BBQ ribs meat chopped
• 1 tbsp unsalted butter
• small cast iron skillet

Instructions

• Make the dough by adding the flour, yeast, salt, and sugar. Mix. Add the water, and with your wooden spoons, or hands, mix until blended. I use my KitchenAid for this process to keep everything in the bowl during the rising process. Mix for about 30 seconds. The dough should be a bit stiff. Cover the bowl with a towel, and let it sit at room temperature until the dough has doubled in volume, about 2 hours. You can do this ahead of time as well, and place in an oiled container, big enough to house the dough, and place in the refrigerator overnight.
• Once risen, divide into three portions. With one of the portions, add some flour to a large pastry board, and take a portion of the dough, and form into a large enough piece to place in your cast iron skillet, just enough to have the dough come up the sides a bit.
• Preheat your oven to 475 degrees, and place your cast iron skillet in the oven to preheat.
• Have your ingredients ready.
• Once the oven is preheated, use kitchen mits to remove the extremely hot cast iron skillet from the oven.
• Toss in the butter, and give that a swirl. Add the portion of rolled out dough and place on the bottom of the cast iron skillet, being careful not to burn yourself. Try to push and form the dough just so it creeps up the edge of the skillet.
• Add the pizza sauce and barbecue sauce on top of the dough, and mix that with a spoon, covering the majority of the dough.
• Top with most of the shredded cheese, leaving a bit for the topping.
• Add the chopped rib meat, then top with the thinly sliced onions and jalapeño peppers. Top with any remaining mozzarella cheese.
• Use your kitchen mits, and place the cast iron skillet back into the oven, and cook for about 25 minutes. Around that time, take the skillet out, and run a butter knife around the skillet. Gently lift to make sure the bottom of the crust is golden brown. Once browned and the cheese is nice and melted, remove the pizza from the oven.
• Drizzle with a bit more of the barbecue sauce. Let the pizza rest for about 10 minutes, then carefully lift it out onto a pizza board, or cutting board before serving. Slice into wedges and enjoy.