GRILLED PIZZA WITH COPPA, FENNEL, ONION, BURRATA AND RICOTTA

Grilled Pizza with Coppa, Fennel, Onion, Burrata and Ricotta image

Pizza Night! When regular weeknight dinner feels lackluster, shake it up with a dinner that can be done DIY, and get everyone on board with a toppings bar or a make-your-own component. Pizza night is perfect for this-everyone can get involved and help and have a blast doing it. If you have a big family or littler ones, this can get super messy, so I'm a big fan of the mantra 'take the mess outside.' This is one project that we always take outside, in almost any season. We use our large zinc table like a giant family work station. Each person in the family gets their own dough, a tray to work on and a bunch of different toppings to scatter on top of their pie. You can absolutely cook your pizzas indoors in a super hot oven (475 degrees F or higher, as high as your oven will go!), but a good $25 pizza stone is an excellent investment in turning your regular outdoor grill into a genius pizza oven, since it's easy to get the grill super hot. It works like a wood-burning oven, giving the crust a nice char from the intense heat. A huge 'aha' for me was the idea of toasting the pizza dough first to get a little blister on both sides before topping it, for more of that wood-fired pizza finish. As for the toppings: The kids usually end up with lots of cheese and tomatoes, ala Margherita pizza. Andras and I get a little more adventurous and I recently landed on my new favorite: coppa, fennel, onion, burrata and ricotta. Other topping ideas: for summer, grated zucchini, salami and green olives; for winter, red onion and shaved winter squash. Anything goes. Avoid anything too wet that will make your crust soggy because the oven is super hot and the cook time is short. Sometimes I make my own pizza dough, but just as often I use the dough from our local pizza shop, which does the trick perfectly. The key is to let it set at room temperature for a good long while-at least an hour-so it is warm and puffy, and takes to stretching like a dream. If you want to go the extra mile and DIY your ricotta, it's super simple. All it takes is some good quality milk, lemon juice and some time. I make my red sauce from scratch too (recipe below) which is a cinch and so versatile!

Provided by Sarah Copeland

Time 55m

Yield Two 12-inch round pizzas or 8 servings

Number Of Ingredients 25

Ingredients

1/4 cup olive oil, plus more for drizzling
All-purpose flour, for dusting
Cornmeal, for dusting, optional
Two 1-pound balls pizza dough, at room temperature
1 cup All-Purpose Red Sauce, recipe follows
12 ounces fresh burrata cheese
4 ounces coppa or soppressata
1 small fennel bulb, thinly sliced
1/3 to 1/2 cup fresh ricotta cheese or Creamy Homemade (Fennel) Ricotta, recipe follows
1/2 cup (about 2 ounces) finely grated Parmesan or Pecorino Romano
Flaky sea salt, such as Maldon and freshly ground black pepper
Pinch red pepper flakes, for serving
Fresh baby greens or herbs, for serving
One 28-ounce can whole peeled tomatoes, such as San Marzano, drained
2 anchovy fillets packed in oil, drained, optional
2 cloves garlic
6 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup fresh basil leaves
Pinch red pepper flakes, optional
Fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
6 cups fresh organic milk (preferably non-homogenized)
3/4 cup organic heavy cream
2 tablespoons lemon juice or white vinegar
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds, crushed, optional

Steps:

Prepare a grill for medium-high heat and add a pizza stone (if your grill has a thermometer, look for temperatures above 600 degrees F). Alternatively, position a pizza stone on a rack in the lower third of the oven and heat the oven to 525 degrees F. (If your oven only goes to 500 degrees F, that's fine.)
Oil 2 large baking sheets, or if you have a pizza peel, dust it lightly with flour and cornmeal. Working with 1 ball of dough at a time, gently stretch or roll the dough into a 12-inch round on a lightly floured surface. Transfer to the baking sheet or pizza peel to carry to the grill or oven. Transfer to the pizza stone and cook until the dough is lightly charred and set on the bottom, 2 to 3 minutes. Flip and toast the other side, 1 to 2 minutes more.
Return to the baking sheet, top with the All-Purpose Red Sauce evenly over the top, sprinkle with the burrata and top with the coppa, fennel, ricotta and Parmesan.
Return to the pizza stone and cook until crisp and brown on the bottom and around the edges, about 5 minutes more (about 12 minutes or so in the oven). Sprinkle with flaky salt, pepper and red pepper flakes, top with the greens and drizzle lightly with more oil. Serve warm.
Pulse the tomatoes, anchovies if using, garlic, oil and basil in a food processor or blender until mostly smooth (some texture is okay). Season with red pepper flakes if using, salt and pepper. Makes 3 1/2 cups.
Pour the milk and cream into a large pot and bring to a boil. Remove from the heat, add in the lemon juice and stir gently a few times (too much stirring yields a grainy ricotta). Once the curds start to separate and set, after about 1 minute or so, let the mixture stand without stirring for at least 5 minutes.
Line a colander with cheesecloth and set it over a large bowl. Drain the ricotta, 5 to 10 minutes for a looser, wet ricotta, or up to 1 hour for a tighter, firm ricotta (I go somewhere in the middle for pizza, depending on how patient I feel).
Taste the ricotta and season with sea salt and fennel seeds if desired. Scoop into clean jars or airtight containers with lids and use at room temperature or refrigerate for up to 5 days. Makes 1 1/2 cups.