Pizza On The Grill: Grilled Pizza Book Review

Grilled Pizza Cookbook by Elizabeth Karmel and Bob Blumer

Sep 26, 2008 Donna Diegel

Pizza On The Grill Cookbook: Elizabeth Karmel and Bob Blumer shows backyard grillers how to grill pepperoni pizza, pesto pizza, chocolate dessert pizza & pizza dough!

Turn off the oven, cool down the kitchen and crank up the grill. It's time to quit baking pizza and start grilling them. A one-of-a-kind cookbook, Pizza On The Grill: 100 Feisty Fire-Roasted Recipes by Elizabeth Karmel and Bob Blumer, gives the backyard griller a new twist on pizza making. From the ever popular and traditional Pepperoni Pizza to the wild and exotic Funky Monkey Dessert Pizza, this cookbook has every imaginable pizza under the sun and on top of the grill!

Part 1 in a series of 3 articles.

Part 2: Master Grilling Instructions for Gas and Charcoal Grills.

Part 3: Grilled Chicken Caesar Pizza Recipe.

Pizza On The Grill

From its high-gloss front cover of pizza with roasted cherry tomatoes, to more mouthwatering pictures on the back jacket, this book is loaded with plenty of real life, gotta-eat-those-pizzas-right-now photos inside as well.

How-To Grill Pizza

The first chapter, Basic Training, covers how to know your dough, gas grills vs charcoal grills, sauces, equipment, cheeses and all the finishing touches. Like the chapter title implies, it's definitely a basic pizza training course on how-to grill pizza. For best results, this chapter needs to be read first.

The Pizzas ~ Grilled Pizza Recipes

What would a pizza cookbook be without grilled pizza recipes? This section gets right to the fun part of the book - the pizzas! There are eight recipe chapters in Pizza On The Grill, each specializing in fire-roasted pizzas to satisfy everyone's cravings.

The Classics - Queen Margherita Pizza and All-American Pepperoni Pizza
Marvelous & Meatless - Forty Olive & Pimiento Pizza and Fire-Roasted Veggie Pizza
Seaworthy Pizzas - Drunken Shrimp Pizza and Smokin' Salmon Pizza
Porkilicious Pizzas - Grilled Pineapple & Pancetta Pizza and Pulled Pork Pizza
Tastes Like Chicken - Chicken Caesar Pizza and Kansas City BBQ Chicken Pizza
Big & Beefy Pizzas - Bacon Cheeseburger in Paradizza and Nacho Libre Pizza
Morning Glories - Cinn-O-Bun Pizza and Green Eggs & Ham Pizza
Sweet Thangs - Funky Monkey Pizza, Caramel Apple Pie Pizza and Very Berry Pizza

The Grand Finale

Most recipes wrap up with an "Adventure Club" section that offers ideas for add-ins or extras. For example, the Funky Monkey Pizza suggests topping the finished pizza with rocky road ice cream and calling the dentist in the morning! Likewise, almost all pizza recipes have a "Drink This" blurb that pairs the pizza with a specially selected wine, beer or even a tall glass of milk! It's these little extras that sets Pizza On The Grill apart from other cookbooks of its type.

Nibbles & Noshes

Given the detailed pizza recipes, extensive descriptions and glossy photos, there's really no need to include the Nibbles & Noshes chapter. It is however, a welcome addition, with suggestions and recipes for assorted dips, olives and salads of all kinds. The Grilled Watermelon Salad is accompanied by an especially mouthwatering photo.

The Pantry

An important chapter - The Pantry - seems out of place at the end of the book. Perhaps the beginning of the book would have been a more logical location for the most basic of recipes - pizza dough, sauces and pestos. The authors make allowances for their decision which makes perfect sense after the first few pizzas are grilled. Recipes such as Basic Pizza Dough by machine and handmade can be found here, as well as an Artisanal Baker's Dough and even a Gluten-Free Spelt Dough for those that are gluten intolerant.

Final Words:

Karmel and Blumer tie up their introduction well, "And don't worry, we promise you that if you follow our steps your crust will not slip between the grates, nor will it burn like hellfire and damnation. All say Hallelujah!"

Don't miss the recipe for Grilled Chicken Caesar Pizza and the Master Grilling Instructions for Gas and Charcoal Grills. These are reprinted in their entirety with permission from the publisher for the backyard griller's enjoyment.

Cover art used with permission in writing from The Taunton Press.

Title: Pizza on the Grill: 100 Feisty Fire-Roasted Recipes

Publisher: The Taunton Press (May 13, 2008)

Authors: Elizabeth Karmel and Bob Blumer

Photographer: Christopher Hirsheimer

# ISBN-10: 1600850065

# ISBN-13: 978-1600850066

Paperback: 160 pages - $16.00 US $19.00 CAN

The copyright of the article Pizza On The Grill: Grilled Pizza Book Review in Party Food is owned by Donna Diegel. Permission to republish Pizza On The Grill: Grilled Pizza Book Review in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.