Grilled Pizza with Salmon, Grilled Sweet Red Peppers, and Green Onions

Suggested wine: rosé from the Loire Valley

Perfect for casual summer parties, everyone enjoys watching a pizza being grilled. In fact, you’ll have your friends and family wanting to help! If you feel ambitious, make two different pizzas. Or, start your party with one pizza and then make salmon burgers on the grill to follow. Make a great potato salad, grill some corn, serve a big tossed salad, and all the activity will center around the grill and being outside.

SERVES 6 TO 8

• 1 pound Pizza Dough , at room temperature
• Vegetable oil for brushing
• 6 green onions, including green tops
• 2 red bell peppers
• 1 salmon fillet (8 ounces), skin and pin bones removed , cut into bite-sized pieces
• 3 shallots, thinly sliced
• ¼ cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh oregano
• 3 tablespoons capers, rinsed and drained
• 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 teaspoon kosher or sea salt
• Freshly ground pepper
• Flour and cornmeal for dusting

Have the pizza dough covered and ready to roll out.

Prepare a hot fire in a charcoal grill or preheat the center burner of a gas grill on high and the front and back or side burners to medium-low. Brush the grill rack with vegetable oil. Grill the green onions until lightly charred on all sides. Transfer to a plate and set aside. At the same time, grill the peppers, turning frequently, until the skin blisters and chars on all sides. Remove the peppers from the grill. Enclose each pepper in a damp paper towel and place the peppers in a plastic bag for 7 to 10 minutes. Use the paper towels to rub off the skin. Cut the peppers in half, discard the core, seeds, and ribs, and cut lengthwise into thin strips. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, gently mix together the salmon, shallots, parsley, oregano, capers, lemon juice, olive oil, salt, and a few grinds of pepper. Set aside to marinate.

Generously dust a pizza paddle or large rimless baking sheet with flour and then cornmeal. Have all the pizza toppings set out next to the grill before rolling out the dough.

Flatten the dough on a heavily floured work surface, sprinkling 2 tablespoons of cornmeal over the flour. Using a rolling pin, roll the dough into a circle 12 to 13 inches in diameter. The dough should be about ¼ inch thick. If the dough shrinks back at the edges, gently stretch it by hand, being careful to keep the dough a uniform thickness. The dough does not need to be a perfect circle; in fact, an odd-shaped circle gives the pizza a lovely rustic look.

Using your hands and working quickly, lift and transfer the dough to the pizza paddle or baking sheet. Give the paddle a few shakes back and forth to make sure the dough isn’t sticking. Brush the grill rack generously with more vegetable oil. Slide the dough from the paddle onto the center of the grill rack using a quick jerking motion with your arm. If any part of the dough folds over on itself, use a pair of tongs to unfold it. Immediately cover the grill. Grill until a crust forms and light grill marks appear, 1 to 2 minutes. Using the pizza paddle, flip the pizza crust over. Spread the salmon mixture evenly over the lightly charred crust. Cover the grill and bake the pizza until nicely browned and crisp on the bottom and at the edges, about 7 minutes. Check the pizza after about 3 minutes. If the pizza is browning too quickly, slide it over to the cooler part of the grill to finish baking. Arrange the peppers and green onions over the salmon mixture. Cover the grill and bake 1 minute longer. Remove any excess flour and cornmeal from the pizza paddle or baking sheet, and use it to transfer the pizza to a cutting board. Slice the pizza into wedges and serve immediately.

PIZZA DOUGH

Look for rye flour in bulk at a natural foods store. Substitute whole-wheat flour, if need be.

• 1 package (2¼ teaspoons) active dry yeast
• ¾ cup lukewarm water
• ¼ cup rye flour
• 1 tablespoon milk
• 2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for oiling the bowl
• ¾ teaspoon kosher or sea salt
• 1¾ cups unbleached all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting

BEGIN BY MAKING A SPONGE: In a medium bowl, dissolve the yeast in ¼ cup of the water. Add the rye flour and stir with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula to combine. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise in a warm place for 20 to 30 minutes.

To make the dough, add the remaining ½ cup water, the milk, oil, salt, and 1¾ cups flour to the sponge. Using a wooden spoon, mix the dough, incorporating as much of the flour as possible. Turn the dough out on a lightly floured work surface and knead until soft and elastic, 10 to 12 minutes. It will still be a little sticky but shouldn’t stick to your hands. Add only a minimum amount of flour to the work surface to keep the dough from sticking.

Lightly oil a large bowl. Add the dough and turn to coat all sides. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and then place a clean, damp linen towel over the top. Set the bowl in a warm spot (a pilot-heated oven is a good spot, or an electric oven turned to 150°F for 5 minutes and then turned off). Allow the dough to rise until doubled in volume, about 2 hours. Punch down the dough, cover it, and allow the dough to rise for another 40 minutes. The dough is now ready to be rolled out. (If you want to make the pizza dough ahead, after the first rising, the dough can be punched down and placed in a large lock-top plastic freezer bag. Refrigerate the dough for up to \2 hours. Bring the dough to room temperature before completing the final rise. Alternatively, freeze the dough for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and then bring the dough to room temperature before completing the final rise.)

MAKES 1 POUND DOUGH, ENOUGH FOR ONE 12-INCH PIZZA

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Risotto with Salmon, Parsley, and Green Onions

Suggested wine: pinot grigio

After a long day of work, sipping a glass of white wine while stirring risotto is relaxing. Ten minutes with a knife and cutting board and twenty minutes at the stove are all you need for this comforting dish. You could even use leftover roast or poached salmon in this risotto. Since the salmon is already cooked, just stir until it is heated through.

SERVES 4 AS A MAIN COURSE

• 5 cups Salmon Stock or canned low-sodium chicken broth
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• ½ cup diced white onion
• 1½ cups Arborio rice (see Cook’s Note)
• ½ cup dry white wine
• 1 salmon fillet (12 ounces), skin and pin bones removed , cut into bite-sized pieces
• ⅓ cup minced fresh flat-leaf parsley
• ½ cup heavy (whipping) cream
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped green onion tops
• Kosher or sea salt
• Freshly ground pepper

In a 2-quart saucepan, bring the stock or broth to a simmer. In a heavy 4-quart saucepan, heat the oil over medium heat and sauté the onion until translucent but not brown, about 3 minutes. Add the rice and stir until the grains are well coated with oil, about 1 minute. Add the wine, let it come to a boil, and then cook, stirring constantly, until most of the wine evaporates.

Add ½ cup of the stock or broth to the rice and cook, stirring frequently, until the rice has almost completely absorbed the liquid. Adjust the heat so the risotto is kept at a slow simmer. Repeat, adding ½ cup of the liquid at a time, always stirring until it is almost fully absorbed before adding more. Reserve ¼ cup of the liquid for adding at the end. After about 18 minutes, the rice will be plump, creamy, and cooked through but still slightly chewy. Stir in the salmon, parsley, cream, and the remaining ¼ cup of the stock or broth. Stir gently until the salmon is cooked through, about 3 minutes. Stir in the green onions. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Spoon the risotto into warmed shallow bowls and serve immediately.

COOK’S NOTE

Arborio rice is an oval-shaped short-grain white rice high in starch that is traditionally used for risotto. Look in the grain section of your supermarket for Arborio rice. Otherwise, it is readily available at specialty stores carrying Italian foodstuffs.

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