Author Notes
Summers in Berkeley are mild. Still being in the epicenter of the local and sustainable food movement, where growing your own and using it well is paramount, we like to spend evenings in the garden, with family and friends and a simple grilled entree, salad and a dessert sourced mainly from our own urban homesteads. This recipe was developed in the Summer of 09 and inspired by a basket of meyer lemons given to us by our neighbors. - mlisakelley —mlisakelley
Test Kitchen Notes
I was a little skeptical that slices of lemons would work on a pizza, but they did indeed melt into the pizza dough, making a lovely sweet and sour layer that was a perfect accompaniment to the chicken, chevre and thyme. The flavors were delectable -- I especially liked how the smokiness from the grill permeated the whole pizza. The most challenging part of the recipe is getting the grill hot enough while still having room for the pizzas to stay out of the flames – my pizzas wound up taking a good deal longer than 2-3 minutes to cook. - vrunka
—The Editors
Ingredients
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1
ball pizza dough
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2
cloves garlic, baked and cooled
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1
whole meyer lemon, sliced thinly
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fresh chevre cheese
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1
grilled chicken breast, sliced
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1
tsp fresh lemon thyme, chopped finely
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2
TBSP fresh garlic oil
Directions
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Flatten the pizza dough using your hands on a lightly floured cutting board. If the dough doesn't stretch and pull easily into your rough circle, then let it rest for 5 minutes and continue. The dough should be roughly a 12 inch circle when you are done. Lay the circle out onto a pizza paddle lightly dusted with semolina, to help prevent sticking once your pizza is topped.
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Preheat the grill. I use a gas grill because I am impatient, but any grill will do. You want your temperature gauge to read at least 350 degrees....the hotter the better.......but remember, you want very little flame and alot of heat for pizza.
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Brush the grill with garlic oil...just lightly to season and prevent sticking. Working quickly, spread the dough out onto your hot grill. Quickly brush the top side of the dough with garlic oil. After 2-3 minutes and your dough is puffing madly and getting grill marks, flip your pizza shell with tongs, marking the other side. Remove from the heat back onto your pizza peel. Turn the heat down to about 200 degrees.
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Now you are ready to top your pizza. Squeeze out the two baked garlic cloves and mash into a paste. Spread with a light hand over the pizza shell, and try to avoid clumps of garlic.
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Add the thinly sliced lemons, leaving lots of space around the pizza. You cannot believe how beautiful this looks once the lemons are cooked and slightly charred and transparent!
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Take little pinches of goat cheese and sprinkle the little clumps around the pizza...taking care not to cover the lemons completely.
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Add slices of chicken breast. If the pieces look too big to you, tear them into smaller pieces. Don't be afraid to have a light hand here....The appeal of this pizza is the freshness of the ingredients and you want to see each of them.
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Sprinkle the top with the finely chopped, fresh thyme and season with coarse sea salt.
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Now that your grill is hot, slide the topped pizza shell onto the grill. Close the lid for a minute, just long enough to heat your toppings through and make the lemons go transparent. Remove from the heat and serve immediately.
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