Oak Fired Carne Asada Pizza

Patti and I have been wanting to do a smoked pizza for awhile. There is nothing like a wood fired pizza! You just can’t get all the layering of flavors in a pizza oven. To start our first layer we smoked the sliced Carne Asada and sliced sweet onion at 180 for an hour. Patti suggested half that time, but she likes her meat raw. Then, put a light coating (for me) of red pepper flakes, chipotle chili powder and coarse ground black pepper over the meat and a sprinkle of Country Bob’s Seasoning Salt on the onions.

Let me tell you, this was truly one of the best pizzas we have ever had. Every bite was an experience in its self. The zippy seasoned meats with its smoke “Enhancers, and the smoky onion were still a little crisp. The bread was baked toasty on the grill. The sweet tomatoes, jalapenos and the freshness of the cilantro was all covered with melted smoky cheese.

Keep in mind that smoking at 180 degrees for an hour the meat won’t be done and the onions will still be a little crisp, with tons of rich smoke flavors. The meat will finish cooking when you put the pizza together.

Oak Fired Carne Asada Pizza

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes with an hour for smoking
Grill: Royall 3000 Wood Pellet Grill
Pellets: Lumberjack Oak

Ingredients: Oak Fired Carne Asada Pizza

• 2 lbs. Carne Asada, smoked
• 1-1  ½ lbs pizza dough
• Cheese, we liked shredded cheddar this time
• Tomato, sliced
• Sweet onion, sliced and smoked
• Jalapenos, sliced
• Cilantro, chopped
• Pizza sauce, 16 oz. jar of any flavor
• ¾ cup minced garlic to mix into pizza sauce
• Red pepper flakes
• Chipotle chili powder
• Coarse ground black pepper
• Country Bob’s Season Salt
• Olive oil
• Lots of napkins

Notice that I did not measure out all the ingredients. Do this to your taste.
It’s pizza, free style it….

I smoked the Carne Asada and Sweet Onions first

Directions: Oak Fired Carne Asada Pizza

We smoked the Carne Asada and sweet onions at 180 for an hour first. I seasoned the meat freely with chipotle chili powder, crushed red pepper flakes, dry crushed garlic and Country Bob’s Seasoning Salt.

Onions on a Frog MattRoll out the dough

While the meat and onions are on the grill, roll out your dough and get the rest of your toppings together. I like to put everything in bowls so when you are ready you just empty the bowl onto or into whatever you’re doing.

We used store bought dough, too easy. If you need a recipe for pizza dough just send us an email. Roll out your dough with a little flour so it does not stick. I rolled it out to fit our griddle. You don’t want to roll it out too thin.

I like to bake my crust first. I don’t think that is really necessary. They don’t do it downtown, do they? So, at this point it is your choice. For this one I did the crust for 3 minutes then flipped it. It was a beautiful golden brown.

I think you need to move quickly now as the crust is still cooking and you don’t want to burn it before the rest is heated through. Give it a nice thick coating of sauce and start stacking your goodies on. Check out our video and you’ll see how we stacked it up.

Close the lid and give it about 6 minutes at 350 degrees or until the cheese is melted nicely. Careful not to burn the bottom crust.

Oak Fired Carne Asada Pizza

Cooking Directions: Royall Wood Pellet Grill

Open the lid and set the dial to “Smoke”, turn it on. After about five minutes you can shut the lid. Give it about 10 minutes to heat up. Patti has lined the drip pan with foil for me, it makes for easier clean up.

Place your meat and onions directly onto the grill and just let it hang out in the smoke 180 and get happy for an hour or so. This is referred to as “smoking”; the temperature is around 180 degrees. 1 hour of smoking is not enough to complety cook your meat but it is enough to open the pours up so that the meat can pick up all the flavor of the smoke. Then pull the meat and onions off and set aside until you are ready to add them to your masterpiece.

Turn the grill up to 350 and add your griddle so it gets hot, too. Put a light coat of olive oil on the griddle and the pizza dough.

Give it 3 minutes and flip it over. Now add your favorite goodies…

When the grill comes up to temp and the griddle is hot roll the dough onto it, giving it about 3 minutes and turn it. It will be a beautiful golden brown when you turn it.

The crust is going to keep cooking, so add a nice thick layer of sauce and start stacking your goodies. Give it about 15 minutes to heat through and melt the cheese. Keep an eye or two on the crust so you don’t burn it.

Pull when everything is nicely melted. And don’t leave it on the griddle or pan you cooked it on. It is hot and will continue cooking. So it may burn your crust. Don’t ask me how I know this, but Patti will tell you.

Note: I get a lot of questions about the kind of pellets you can use with a recipe. Keep in mind that a recipe is just an outline. Some you need follow closely like when you are making bread, but, most you can do anything you can dream, our favorite way to cook. Feel free to mix and match the pellets until you find a combination you really like. Also you are only smoking at temps less than 250 degrees, anything higher is cooking and there will not be much if any smoke so it does not matter what kind of pellet you are using.

Cooking In the Oven:

We have been getting requests for recipe conversions for the Pacific Living Pizza Oven. I tell folks all the time that cooking on a Wood Pellet Grill/Smoker is just as easy as cooking in your oven. Just about anyone can do it and do it well. Think about it. You set your control knob to the temp you want, put your meat in and leave it for a set time.

It is the same thing, time and temperature is what it is all about. The Pacific Living Pizza Oven is just like your oven except it uses wood pellets and has wheels.

I did 15 minutes here at 350 degrees (174c).

Oak Fired Carne Asada Pizza

About our Recipes

We do our recipes on our patio where we have a lineup of grills, including Louisiana, Green Mountain, Royall, Memphis, Traeger pellet grills, Char Griller side box smoker, Saber, Charmglow, Char-Broil, The Big Easy, Pacific Living Pizza Oven, Lodge Sportsman’s, Brinkman and Weber. I call it our “Wall of Grill”. Our grilling styles are healthy and low fat and will fit pelletheads, gas, natural wood and even charcoal purists. Almost any of our recipes can be done on any kind of good BBQ.

The important thing to keep in mind is TIME & TEMPERATURE. You can even do some of them in the oven or crock pot, but, then you lose all the flavors you get from cooking outdoors. But sometimes it does rain.

Let’s Eat

Remember that a recipe is simply an outline; it is not written in stone. Don’t be afraid to make changes to suit your taste. Take it and run with it….

Live your Passion,
Ken & Patti

http://datenightdoins.com
Facebook 
Youtube Channel
PintrestOur Thanks To:

Country Bob’s All Purpose Sauce
www.countrybobs.com

Maverick Industries, Inc.
1-800-526-0954
help@maverickhousewares.com
http://www.maverickhousewares.com/  

F.Dick Professional Knives and Tools.
888-921-9378
thfinch@125west.com
http://www.125west.com/c-135-fdick.aspx

PelletCan
A storage container & dispenser for wood pellets
sales@pelletcan.com
http://www.pelletcan.com 

Lumberjack Wood Pellets
Jerry Brown
715-866-8535
www.lumberjackpelletsonline.com

Grill Grates
http://www.grillgrate.com/

Pacific Living Pizza Oven
Pacific Living Inc.
Rick Jones
949-481-9213
rick@pacificlivinginc.com
http://pacificlivinginc.com/