If you want to try the grilling part without making your own dough, most pizza shops will sell you a lump of dough, or you can buy it in many grocery stores, but honestly, once you learn the basic technique of making pizza dough, you’ll be amazed at how easy it is.

Just put a cup of warm water in a bowl and add a packet (or tablespoon) of yeast. Sprinkle a little sugar over the yeast and give it a stir. Let the yeast dissolve and begin to bubble while you add a rounded teaspoon of salt to 2 1/2 cups of unbleached flour. Slowly, add the flour to the water/yeast mixture. Stir with a wooden spoon until the dough pulls away from the sides. You might not use all of the flour. Think pillow, not hockey puck.

Dump the dough onto a floured wooden board or counter and knead it for a few minutes, adding flour a bit at a time as needed, until you have a soft, flexible dough. Once you do this a few times, you’ll recognize the right feel. You don’t want a heavy lump, so be careful not to add too much flour. Put a little olive oil in a medium size bowl. Put the dough ball in the bowl and turn it to coat it with the oil. Cover with plastic wrap. The dough should take about 45 minutes to double in size.

You can actually make the dough ahead of time. Once it has doubled in size, you can punch it down, form it into a ball and pop it into a gallon zip lock bag. Put a little flour in the bag to prevent sticking. In the refrigerator, the dough will double in size in the bag, but that’s a good thing. Just punch it down again when you’re ready to use it.

Divide the dough into two parts. Stretch and pat the dough until it forms two pies. You could easily divide this into four pies. Both kids and adults like to create their own individual pizzas. Brush one side of the dough with olive oil. If just adults will be eating the pizza, you could sprinkle some pepper flakes into the oil. Skip that part if kids are involved! Put the dough, oiled side down, on a hot grill. They cook fast, so watch them!

Remove them from the grill. Oil the flip side. Then, on the grilled side, cover with any toppings that appeal to you. Once you’ve created your ultimate pie, pop it back on the grill, oiled side down. Put down the cover for a very few minutes to make sure that the cheese melts. Check the bottom of the pizza frequently. Again, it cooks fast! Using a pizza peel helps, but it’s not critical. The dough is pretty easy to handle once one side is done and a big spatula will work.

Have some fun with this. It’s something different to try during the grilling season that appeals to almost everyone.