As the UK gears up for a summer of sporting limelight coupled with the excitement of the Jubilee weekend, the sound of the nation’s barbecues can be heard rattling their way from the garage to the patio area.
The corporate giants littered around town replenish their stock of the usual suspects; burgers, sausages, kebabs, ribs and for the little more adventurous among us, fish and steak. But if you really want to impress your guests turn your thoughts to a slice of pizza and a refreshingly crisp glass of white wine. That’s right – a barbecue can really make a difference to one of the nation’s favourite food.
For a small investment a BBQ Pizza Stone can make a remarkable impact to your barbecue cooking ability. I first started using mine three years ago and the results are stunning. There is no doubt the 20 or so pounds I paid for the nifty little piece of equipment has paid itself back on numerous occasions.
The tip is to ensure your using a barbecue with a lid. This can either be (as I use) a gas bbq or indeed on the good old fashioned charcoals.
I’ve found the best results happen when the barbecue is as hot as I can get it. I tend to leave the stone inside the barbecue (although wouldn’t recommend this if using charcoal), and then turn the burner directly under the stone to low while cooking the pizza. Cooking the pizza takes a matter of minutes and delivers results that would leave every Italian amazed by the ease.
Watch our method here:
The ingredients we used:
Making the dough
- 500g plain flour (strong)
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp fresh yeast
- 325ml warm water
Making the topping
- 300g canned chopped tomatoes
- salt and ground black pepper
- 4 tbsp olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves
- 30g Parmesan cheese, grated
- A few fresh basil leaves
- 1 bag of buffalo mozzarella, roughly chopped
- Olive oil, for drizzling
