Grilled Winter Veggie Pizza

It's the first of February, but yesterday it was fifty-some degrees and sunny.  With weather that nice in mid-winter, in Ohio, there's only one thing to do: fire up the grill.  My freezer had a complete dearth of grillable items, however, but thankfully,  The Greener Grocer at the North Market has this great thing called the Weekly Fresh Market Bag.  It's essentially a mini-CSA, and they offer a summer and winter season, with seasonal, if not local produce, grains, and cheeses.  I don't have a WFMB myself, but am lucky enough to have a boyfriend that does, and is willing to share. Since this week's bag had (among other things) kale, shiitake mushrooms, and fingerling potatoes in it, we decided to throw an impromptu grilled, winter veggie pizza party. Topped with a variety of cheeses pulled out of my fridge (fontina, goat, and Parmesan) and infused with the smoke from a super-hot grill, it made for a delightful taste of winter with the slightest hint of the promise of spring.

If you're doing a veggie pizza like this, I'd recommend chopping the kale into bite size pieces, then blanching it for a few minutes to get it tender.  Same thing with the potatoes: slice them thin and par-boil them--they'll finish cooking on the pizza.  For the shiitakes, we cooked them low and super-slow in a skillet with a knob of butter...they gradually caramelized into tasty little nuggets of mushroomy goodness.   Finally, since onions make everything better, we also added some caramelized red onions, slow cooked on low heat until they were browned and super soft.

My go-to dough recipe is below...and I'm not going to lie, it's a Giada DeLaurentiis' recipe, but it's quick, easy, and pretty versatile. (You can roll it out thin for a crispier dough, or keep it thick for a chewier, softer pizza.)

Basic Pizza Dough (makes two 12-14 inch pies)

• 3/4 cup warm water (105°F to 115°F)
• 1 envelope active dry yeast

• 2 cups (or more) all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
  Pour 3/4 cup warm water into small bowl; stir in yeast. Let stand until yeast dissolves, about 5 minutes. Brush large bowl lightly with olive oil. Mix 2 cups flour, sugar, and salt in processor. Add yeast mixture and 3 tablespoons oil; process until dough forms a sticky ball. Transfer to lightly floured surface. Knead dough until smooth, adding more flour by tablespoonfuls if dough is very sticky, about 1 minute. Transfer to prepared bowl; turn dough in bowl to coat with oil. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let dough rise in warm draft-free area until doubled in volume, about 1 hour. (A cold oven with the oven light on is a great place to do this.) Punch down dough. When ready to use, roll out on a floured surface, add desired toppings and cook in an oven at 450, or on a closed grill on high heat.

If you want more information on The Greener Grocer's Weekly Fresh Market Bag, check out their website. They also have a newsletter you can sign up for, that lists what you're getting each week, as well as recipes and suggestions for how to use your loot.