Baked vs. Grilled?

Well, if you know us, you know we love pizza. Barbecue chicken pizza, in particular. A couple of nights ago, we decided to put to rest a question we'd been wondering about for a while now: does our favorite pizza really taste better when made on the grill? (truth be told, we were skeptical of the grilled approach) We decided to make 2 slightly smaller pizzas, instead of the 1 large one and put them in a head to head competition.

Ingredients:
1 trader joes pizza dough (split in 2 and rolled out, ready for toppings)


BBQ sauce- our choice (always!): Sweet Baby Rays


Two chicken breasts



1 can black beans


Red onion- sliced


Mozzarella cheese!


Before you start assembling the pizzas, grill the chicken until nearly cooked through. (It will cook the rest of the way on the pizza.)

For the baked pizza, place the dough on a pizza stone and spread the BBQ sauce on the dough generously, chop up the grilled chicken and spread on the pizza, followed by the black beans and chopped red onion. Cover with cheese.



Bake at 425 for 20 mins.

For the grilled pizza, after grill has heated to its hottest setting, clean off the grill and use a folded paper towel to spread some olive oil on the grates. Place pizza dough straight onto the grates. Close lid and cook for 2 mins. Pizza dough should be bubbling evenly. If not, cook dough for another minute. Remove the dough from the grill and flip over so that the grilled side is up. Cover in toppings like the baked pizza- go easy on the sauce and cheese so it doesn't get soggy. When you're ready to grill it, reoil the grates, place pizza in the grill and cook for 3 minutes. Remove and let cool.



Here they are, all cooked and ready to try:




The verdict? They were actually both great, and we were surprised at how crispy and yummy the crust of the grilled pizza was. Also, the grilled pizza cooked so much more quickly than the baked one! We will totally do the grilled one again, but I think next time with a bit more sauce!

Bon appetit!

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