Veggie Challenge #3: Curly Endive

I have decided that there is an inordinate amount of 'ambiguous leafy green things' in my produce section. The only thing left to do is dive in. This weeks weirdness? Curly endive. And what do you do with weird green leafy things that you have no idea how to cook? You guessed it. You flash grill them and throw 'em on a grilled pizza!

Boy and I were introduced to the beautiful world of grilled pizza a couple years ago by a friend of a friend at an annual summer party. Out of the corner of my eye I see this woman stretching pizza dough over a hot grill and, naturally, immediately thought she was nuts. Curiosity got the best of me so I ran over like a lost puppy and asked her what she was doing. The rest is history. A beautiful history.

We get our pizza dough from the grocery store. Like pie crust, it is more effort to make it that it is worth (thanks for that tip, Mom, you have saved me lots of time over the years.). Granted, you can chop up whatever you want to put on a grilled pizza, but I used the following on this one: trumpet mushrooms, a vidalia onion, curly endive, and brie. Oh, and delicious, fresh-brewed, Vermont-local Switchback. Optional of course.

I threw all the veggies on the grill for a quick char before starting on the pizza. (I have to say that curly endive on the grill smells a lot like many of the freshman dorm rooms at UVM... if you get what I mean.) This was our first grilled pizza of the season, so obviously they memory wasn't super fresh.  You must ALWAYS remember to spray the grill before you put the pizza dough down.  (Boy managed to use brute strength and free the pizza from the grill, but  I have to say it wasn't pretty.)  So, put the dough down and let it cook for 5 minutes on a low-medium heat.  Once you flip it, immediately put toppings on and let grill for another 5 minutes.

The verdict on this one?  Idea was amazing, execution was flawed.  I had never tried grilled pizza on charcoal, but let me tell you, it is really difficult. Our crust was a little more well-done than I would normally care for.  Boy and I will be the proud new owners of a gas grill soon and fully plan to try this exact recipe again then.

By popular request, here is a loose version of the recipe for this one:
Pizza dough
Olive Oil
PAM (to spray the grill)
trumpet mushrooms, sliced
1 vidalia onion, sliced
1 bunch curly endive, rinsed
brie
Lightly grill veggies to get a nice flavor.  Remove from grill.  Stretch pizza dough and place on grill immediately after spraying the grates with PAM.  Let cook for 3-5 minutes.  Flip the pizza and top!  (I simply used olive oil on this one, but I normally use red sauce.) Let cook for another 3-5 minutes.  Remove from heat.  Let your friends "ooh" and "ahh".  Enjoy!


As always - drop me a note or leave a comment with any suggestions or ideas!