Grilled Muffuletta Pizza + Pickled Mustard Seeds

(We just had to feature a grilling recipe today in order to highlight Jennifer Chandler being mentioned on thekitchn.com during their grill week for her cookbook Simply Grilling! What a great thing to wake up to on a regular old Tuesday morning.)

Hey, don't be afraid to grill pizza dough. It's way easier than it sounds. The best part is that you can make the dough and put this whole meal together in less time than it takes to order a mediocre pizza. You can use this grill top method for all other kinds of pizza, too -- on the same night, we also made truffled grilled potato pizza with goat cheese.


For our mash-up of a pizza, make the olive dressing a day (or at least a couple of hours) ahead of time, and assembling it will be easy from there. The Pickled Mustard Seed recipe is something you'll just have to wait to see. Sure, there are other versions out there, but we talked Andy and Michael out of their Andrew Michael Italian Kitchen recipe, and it'll be included in an upcoming article we wrote for Edible Memphis.


Grilled Muffuletta Pizza


Beer Pizza Crust (makes 3 crusts)
Vegetarian Olive Dressing (recipe follows)
olive oil (like Whole Foods 365 brand)
1 pound provolone cheese (shredded)
Pickled Mustard Seeds or Creole Mustard
1 cup chopped parsley


Follow my beer crust instructions, but be sure to omit the honey since it will burn on the grill. There is no need to allow time for the crust to rise either. This is a quick dough. 


Turn your outdoor grill on the highest setting and shut the lid in order to preheat it. Roll each dough ball out as thinly as you can; use a rolling pin to make about a 10-12 inch crust. Don't worry about it being a perfect circle -- this is supposed to be rustic. 

Drizzle each circle with about a teaspoon of olive oil and rub it into the surface of the dough on the top and bottom. Using your hands, lay a disk of dough onto the grill grates. Once the top surface is bubbly and the bottom side is nicely marked, remove the dough, using a pair of kitchen tongs, from the grill and set aside. Depending on your grill, this process should take about 3 minutes. Repeat with the other two portions.


Top the cooked side (the side that was face-down on the grill) of the crust with 1 1/2 cups Vegetarian Olive Dressing and 1/3 of the provolone. Return the pizza to the grill top for another 3 minutes or until the cheese has melted. Garnish with a tablespoon of mustard and 1/4 cup chopped parsley. (Makes 3 pizzas. Serves 6-8.)

Vegetarian Olive Dressing

2 to 3 cups spicy, pitted olives (green, black, and kalamta)
2 stalks celery (about 1 cup, sliced)

2 cups cauliflower

1 large carrot (about 1 cup, sliced)

4 roasted red peppers (chopped)

8-12 peperoncini peppers (optional, chopped)

2 teaspoons good Italian seasoning mix (Whole Foods has a really good one in the bulk spices section.)
4 cloves garlic (crushed)
1 cup olive oil (like Whole Foods 365 brand)
1 cup white vinegar

Using the slicer blade on your food processor, slice the olives, celery, cauliflower, and carrots. Place sliced vegetables into a 2-quart container; add the red peppers, peperoncini peppers, Italian seasoning mix, crushed garlic, olive oil, and vinegar. Allow mixture to marinate and the flavors to meld for a day or so...seriously, the longer you leave it, the better it will be. (Makes 2 quarts. Keeps in the fridge for up to a month.)