Red Grape, Goat Cheese & Basil Beer-Crusted Pizza

Pizza is one of those meals that works anytime of the year and makes 99.9% of the population very happy! What makes pizza so perfect for entertaining is that you can prep the dough ahead of time, which gets the biggest step in making pizza out of the way.

Recipe and photo courtesy of Rebecca Firth @displacedhousewife.

Serves: 3 large or 6 individual pizzas

Ingredients:

For the Dough

• 1 12-oz. bottle of room temperature, light-flavored beer or water
• 4 tsp. dry yeast or ¼ cup fresh starter
• 4 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for dusting your hands and the dough
• 3 Tbsp. olive oil, plus extra for the bowl
• 1 1/2 Tbsp. honey or granulated sugar
• 4 tsp. of sea salt

For the Sauce

• 1/2 cup fresh basil, chopped
• 1/2 cup fresh parsley, chopped
• ½ cup olive oil
• 2 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar

Toppings

• 8 to 12 oz. fresh mozzarella or burrata
• 1 ½ cups red grapes
• 1 cup fresh basil leaves
• 3 oz. goat cheese
• 2 oz. Parmesan, finely shredded
• olive oil to drizzle over the top
• parsley or other fresh herbs to sprinkle on the top
• dried chili pepper flakes, optional

Instructions:

1. In an electric stand mixer fitted with the dough attachment add the beer and yeast and let sit for 15 minutes until it’s foamy and frothy. Add in your flour, olive oil, honey and salt and knead on medium-high for about 15 minutes.
2. In the beginning the dough will stick to the bottom of the mixer…as it continues to knead it will start to form a smooth and elastic dough ball. When you’re ready to get it out of the bowl, lightly flour your hands and sprinkle the dough with flour to help get it out. It will be a bit oozy. That’s ok. Lightly oil a large bowl with olive oil, set the dough inside, turning to coat with the oil. Cover the bowl lightly with plastic wrap or a damp kitchen towel and set in a warm spot for 1 1/2 to 2 hours or until doubled in size.
3. Once your dough has doubled in size, separate it into three or six equally sized dough balls (whichever you prefer, depending on how many pizzas you want to make) and set on parchment paper that’s been lightly dusted in flour. Lightly dust the tops of the dough balls with flour as well. Loosely cover with plastic wrap or a damp kitchen towel and let sit for 1 1/2 to 2 hours or until doubled in size. Once they’ve doubled in size, shape each ball into a disc…gently stretching into a round shape…don’t go for perfect, that’s part of the charm of homemade pizza. You may need to use a wee bit of flour to keep it from sticking. Set the shaped pizza dough on a baking sheet covered in parchment paper.
4. For the sauce, in a medium bowl combine the basil, parsley, olive oil and balsamic and set aside.
5. Preheat your oven to 500 degrees F and make sure you have a rack in the top third of the oven, at least 6-inches from the heat source.
6. Put about 2 tablespoons of the green sauce on each pizza, leaving a 1-inch gutter around the edge that is sauce free. Sprinkle with some mozzarella (don’t overdo it), add the grapes, basil, goat cheese and parmesan and drizzle with a bit of olive oil. Bake the pizza on the parchment-covered baking sheet on the top rack of the oven for 13-15 minutes until bronzed and charred in spots. Let sit for at least five minutes before cutting into the pizzas…you want the cheese to firm up a bit. Sprinkle with some fresh herbs and/or dried chili pepper flakes and eat. Enjoy!!!
7. Thank you for making this beer-crust pizza! Tag me on social @displacedhousewife #displacedhousewife so I can see your gorgeous pizza pies!!!

Please visit J. Lohr’s Recipes page for additional recipes and pairing ideas.