Peaches are one of my favorite summer fruits, and we bought South Carolina peaches today at Oasis, our local global market. The spinach and arugula were picked from our garden.

Start with grilled pizza dough, and a charcoal fire on one side of the grill only (for indirect heat), cook dough over the coals until bottom is lightly browned and crisp, rotating as necessary for even browning. The dough will form bubbles as the yeast produce carbon dioxide. Flip dough over (the cooked side is now the top of the pizza), flatten the air bubbles, move off the coals, and coat dough with olive oil. Add crumbled chevre.

Move the dough back over the coals and rotate to cook the bottom evenly. Once the bottom is browned, move dough over to indirect heat and add spinach, arugula, and 1-2 chopped peaches that have been tossed with extra virgin olive oil, fresh lemon juice, and salt and pepper.

Close the grill and let greens wilt and peaches warm through, 2-5 minutes. If you’re feeling inspired, grill the peaches while the dough is cooking before adding them to the greens mixture.

Serve with balsalmic vinegar and fruity hot sauces as condiments.

Bon appétit!

Wine pairing: Viognier, with its varietal descriptors of peach and apricot, and its floral aromas, would be perfect with the peaches in this recipe. Virginia wineries are producing some fabulous Viogniers. Rose or Albarino would also pair well with this pizza. Cheers!

This recipe for grilled dough is adapted from Williams-Sonoma Grilling Cookbook. Makes enough dough for 2 pizzas.

Mix in a food processor, stand mixer, or by hand:

2 cups all-purpose flour

1.5 cups whole wheat flour

2.5 tsp yeast (dry active or quick-rise)

1 Tbsp sugar

1 scant Tbsp salt

2 tsp chopped fresh or dried herbs (oregano and thyme are nice)

Slowly add 1.25 cups warm water and 2 Tbsp olive oil. As dough pulls together, knead by hand until smooth and elastic.

Place dough in bowl, coat with olive oil, cover with a towel, and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size. about 1-2 hours.

Punch down and divide in half. Use immediately, refrigerate for up to 3 hours, or freeze for later use.

Bon appétit!

A favorite delicious and healthy pizza:

Preheat oven to 500F.

Cover Pizza dough generously with olive oil and grated Parmigiano-Reggiano. Season with salt and pepper.

Place dough in oven and reduce heat to 475F. Bake until lightly browned and crisp, 7-10 min.

While crust is baking, rough chop several types of lettuce (romaine, green and red leaf, radicchio, endive, etc.) and toss with vinaigrette.

Serve salade on top of pizza crust with additional Parmigiano-Reggiano (and some chopped fresh tomatoes in summer).

Bon appétit!

Wine Pairing: We recently enjoyed this pizza with a $9 screw cap Corbieres from South of France. A similar rustic table wine is recommended – Cotes du Rhone, Chianti, or Rose would pair well. Cheers!

This recipe makes enough dough for two thin-crust oven pizzas. The recipe can be easily doubled and frozen for easy weeknight meals.

dissolve 2.5 tsp (1 packet) yeast in 1 cup warm water for 5 minutes until foamy

mix 1.25 cups whole wheat flour, 1.25 cups bread (or all-purpose) flour, 1 tsp salt, and optional 1-2 tsp dried herbs.

Add the dissolved yeast and mix on low speed in mixer with dough hook (or by hand with extra kneading) for several minutes to knead. Add extra warm water as necessary to get dough to come together. After some kneading it should be smooth and elastic.

Coat dough with olive oil, cover with a towel, and let rise for 1 hour in a warm place.

Divide dough in two. Roll out, top, and bake in a preheated 500F oven reduced to 475F once the pizza is added for 10-15 minutes.

Bon Appetit!