Recipe: Grilled Roasted Garlic & Smashed Tomato Bread Pizza

Pizza on the grill is one of my go-to meals when I’m looking for something easy in the summertime, and this recipe for Grilled Roasted Garlic & Smashed Tomato Bread Pizza is perfect. Whether you want a light meal at the end of a long hot day, or something simple while having some friends over, you’ll want this one in your life.

So, a few months ago, my grill caught fire.

Like, legit, had to scramble for the fire extinguisher and put out the flame kind of fire.

Not one of the best nights, and it did NOTHING to quell my well-cultivated and healthy fear of fire.

No joke.

But then just a few days later, I received an email from the folks at Fuego, asking if I was interested in working with them.

HECK YEAH.

I felt like it was the universe’s way of telling me that I didn’t need to fear fire, and everything will be ok.

Although I respect the message the universe was sending me, I still am very afraid of fire.

But not grilling.

And so just a week later, an 82-pound grill arrived at my doorstep. When I was looking for replacement grills, Fuego’s line was actually coming up on my short list. I loved that with such a good size grilling surface, the grill’s actual footprint was quite small, which makes it perfect for our backyard. I don’t sacrifice any grilling features that I’m looking for, and, equally important, I don’t sacrifice too much of our deck to have the grill.

Win/Win.

Because I hate putting things together, I asked a friend to come over one afternoon and help me, but it actually was way easier to put together than I thought, thank goodness. We were done in under thirty minutes!

It starts up soooo smoothly. Turn the propane on, turn the dial to on, and push the igniter switch. DONE.

My fear of fire means that I actually read the list of how to turn it on each time I use it because I’m afraid to screw something up. #reallife

I close the lid while it’s warming up so I can retain all the heat and get the temperature up quickly, and it’s ready to go within minutes.

And the inaugural recipe on my new grill?

Grilled Roasted Garlic and Smashed Tomato Bread Pizza

I mean … how amazing does that look?

I first discovered grilled pizza back in the late 90s when I made a recipe that was grilled naan with caramelized onions and goat cheese, seriously amazeballs and might actually be the turning point that began my love affair with goat cheese.

Although I make grilled pizzas with a variety of different breads, I really like using slices of sourdough. They crisp up SO NICELY, and when I’m serving them, whether it’s for company or my family, I’ll cut each piece into three, so if you do a bunch of different toppings, everyone can grab a few and not feel like they’re overindulging.

Or that’s my rationale anyway, and besides, they look super pretty all displayed on a nice big platter or an extra large cutting board.

And the bonus? The bread was seriously still delivering a nice crispy bite hours later.

I kid you not.

I topped these babies with a drizzle of olive oil, fresh mozzarella and basil from the farmer’s market, and a mess of roasted tomato and garlic.

So freaking good.

MAKE THEM. You won’t be disappointed. And if you’re looking for a grill, do check out the line from Fuego. It has absolutely helped to bring back my love of grilling all the things.

That fear of fire? Still working on it.

Grilled Roasted Garlic and Smashed Tomato Bread Pizza
Recipe courtesy of Cate O’Malley

Ingredients
Round loaf of sourdough bread
cherry tomatoes
fresh mozzarella (I prefer to hand shred it, instead of buying pre-shredded)
one bulb of garlic
extra virgin olive oil
fresh basil
salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. On a baking sheet, spread the cherry tomatoes in a single layer. Take a piece of foil and make a small bowl-shape with it. Cut the top off of the garlic bulb and pop it into the foil bowl (see photo below). Drizzle the garlic bulb and the tomatoes with olive oil. Bake for approximately thirty minutes or until the garlic is soft and the tomatoes are juicy and start to burst. Squish the garlic cloves out of the bulb and add them to the roasted tomatoes. Using a fork, smash the garlic cloves a little bit and squish the tomatoes, gently mix together. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Preheat the grill. Drizzle the bread with olive oil and grill on both sides until it gets crispy and you start to see grill marks. Leaving the bread on the grill, tear off pieces of fresh mozzarella and add it to the bread, and then add the roasted tomato and garlic mixture. Close the grill lid and let it cook for about 4-5 minutes, or until the mozzarella melts. Remove the bread from the grill and finish with a few torn bits of fresh basil. Cut each slice into three and devour.