Recipe Remix :: Checca Pizza

Do y’all ever get “stuck” on certain foods that you love… so much, that you just keep making it over and over? My friend Caitlin and I bonded over the fact that we want to eat roasted sweet potatoes for lunch every day in the winter…and this past summer, all of my breakfasts consisted of greek yogurt, berries and almonds. Maybe I’m a creature of habit, but don’t you think that some foods are just too good not to be enjoyed over and over? A few weeks ago, I shared the recipe for crostini with heirloom tomato checca, and the checca sauce was so addictive that I keep making batches of it to top grilled pita bread, fresh linguine, and this highly addictive Checca Pizza. The fresh, seasonal flavors are an ode to end-of-summer harvest, and once you’ve got the pizza dough, a little chopping is all the prep that’s required. If you haven’t seen my guide to pizza grilling, you’ll want to start there for the dough recipe and method that I use for every pizza I make. Trust me, it can’t be beat. Keep reading for the simple ingredients and recipe to make this one!

Grilled Pizza with Heirloom Tomato Checca & Scallions

*serves 2

Ingredients:

• 1 ball pizza dough (homemade or store bought), at room temperature
• 2 cups chopped heirloom tomatoes, with some of the liquid drained off
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for oiling the dough
• 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 3/4 cup fresh mozzarella, chopped into 1/2″ pieces
• 5 whole scallions, bulb and outer skin removed
• 5 whole basil leaves
• maldon sea salt

Instructions:

1. In a bowl, combine chopped tomatoes, minced garlic, olive oil and salt, and stir together. Let marinate for at least 1 hour, and up to 3 hours. (this is the checca sauce.)
2. Preheat the grill: one side should be at the highest temperature possible (we bring ours up to 600 degrees) and the other side should be on low heat. On a lightly floured cutting board, roll dough into a 10-inch free form circle as thinly as you can. Even thickness is key, but don’t worry too much about if it’s round, oval or rectangular…it should look “rustic!” Place on a sheet pan or cutting board, with sheets of parchment paper layered between stacked crusts.
3. On the hottest side of the grill, place the scallions for a couple minutes each side until they start to blacken. Let cool, then cut each of them in half horizontally.
4. Drain a bit more liquid from the checca sauce, then gather all your toppings (checca, grilled scallions and mozzarella) and head out to the grill. Using my pizza grilling technique, grill the first side of the pizza. Flip when ready, then top crust with checca, mozzarella and scallions. Close hood, and when the cheese is melted, transfer pizza to a cutting board.
5. Tear basil leaves over top and sprinkle with maldon salt.

*photos by Camille