Although I’m mostly retired from recreational softball, that’s how I met my wonderful friends Adam and Celine Kaleta. In addition to being teammates, we also share a love of good food – that’s how lots of great friendships are fueled, right?
Adam and Celine Kaleta of Kaleta's Kitchen during a recent sampling of their BBQ in our store
Adam loves to smoke meat and really got into it a few years ago. He started Kaleta’s Kitchen and began with catering orders and barbecue competitions. Just about a year ago, he started bottling his Wiggle Butt BBQ Sauce and rub for sale.
As a small business ourselves, The Chopping Block loves supporting other small, local businesses so carrying Wiggle Butt BBQ seemed like a great addition to our retail selection, as well as our cooking classes, especially our outdoor grilling classes! You can’t help but smile when you see the bottle complete with Flash, the Kaleta’s bulldog, and the mascot of Kaleta’s kitchen.
Another new product at The Chopping Block is the Alpine collection by Le Creuset. This is Le Creuset’s new outdoor line. It’s the enameled cast iron of traditional Le Creuset we know and love, now crafted for the outdoors. We carry the pizza pan and the square grill basket and both pieces will really enhance your outdoor cooking experience. The grill basket has perforations so smaller vegetables or other items don’t fall through. The pizza pan does a fabulous job of distributing heat to help develop that crispy pizza crust we all crave.
Speaking of pizza crust, I recently tried out the Alpine pizza pan, and made a BBQ Hangar Steak Pizza with Wiggle Butt BBQ sauce – it’s my twist on BBQ Chicken Pizza, which I love! No need to heat up your kitchen with a hot oven. No need to dial your favorite pizza place for delivery. Making pizza at home, on your outdoor grill is easy, fun, and really delicious. The best part about pizza is that it’s completely customizable, so feel free to add or delete from the suggestions in my recipe.
If you’re not familiar with hanger steak, it is a very flavorful and tender cut from the upper belly of the cow. Hanger steak doesn’t get nearly the spotlight it deserves, in my opinion. I don’t ever see it in my regular grocery store, but most butchers will have it, or I highly recommend checking out Wild Fork Foods. You can order online and have it shipped, or there may be a store you can visit locally. Their meat is great quality and comes vacuum sealed and frozen so you have it on hand for whenever you’re ready to get cooking.
You can even grill the steak in advance, to reduce cooking time!
The pizza I made uses Wiggle Butt BBQ as the sauce base (adios traditional pizza sauce) and features the hanger steak rubbed with Spiceology Cowboy Crust. I love so many of Spiceology’s blends (a lot of them also double as great dips when mixed with mayo and sour cream/yogurt) but Cowboy Crust, an espresso and chili rub is sweet, savory, and rich, and among my favorites! I added charred corn and red peppers, a provolone and mozzarella blend, fresh sliced jalapenos, and garnished with a drizzle of Wiggle Butt BBQ, torn fresh basil from my herb garden, and thinly sliced scallions. Since I’m revealing plenty of other secrets, I’ll admit that I didn’t make my own dough (though you certainly can) this time. I used Trader Joe’s fresh pizza dough which is one of my favorite items (they also have an herb version) they carry.
While you can absolutely grill pizza directly on grill grates, I’ve personally had mixed results. The grill needs to be really hot, and I’ve found that the dough can stick, and sink in the grooves. The Le Creuset Alpine Pizza Pan removes all those obstacles and delivers an amazing crispy, and beautifully brown crust. I can’t recommend it enough! Another plus, it cleans up beautifully.
Give grilled pizza a go the next time you fire up the grill, and you’ll wonder why you didn’t do this sooner!
BBQ Hanger Steak Pizza on the Grill
Scroll down for a printable version of this recipe
1. Heat a gas grill to high (on one side if possible), or set up a charcoal grill with an indirect heat.
2. Season your hanger steak with Cowboy Crust (or rub of choice).
3. Grill steak over high heat for 2-3 minutes on each side, until 115 degrees (this will be very rare but you’ll cook it again when the pizza is cooking). Remove and let it rest.
4. Put the whole red pepper, and corn (husk removed), on the grill, turn occasionally as they char. Remove the skin from the pepper and dice it. Remove the corn from the cob. Set aside.
5. Place the Alpine pizza pan on the grill, drizzle/spray a little cooking oil, and place your stretched dough on the pan, on the indirect side of the grill. You can quickly, and carefully use your hands to spread the dough to the edges of the pan.
6. Close the lid of the grill and let the crust cook for 2 minutes.
7. Spread about 1/4 cup (more or less based on the size of your pizza and personal preference) of Wiggle Butt BBQ sauce on the dough.
8. Sprinkle cheese on top of the sauce and allow it to cook with the grill lid closed for about 5 minutes.
9. Slice the hanger steak, on a bias (diagonal) while the pizza cooks.
10. Add the steak, corn, red pepper, and jalapeno to the pizza and cook for another 5 minutes, or until your crust is the desired level of golden brown, and the steak is cooked to your liking.
11. Top the cooked pizza with the fresh basil, scallions, and a drizzle of the remaining BBQ sauce. Slice and enjoy!
I hope this blog has inspired you to try something new on the grill. Come check our retail store Wednesday through Saturday for all your grilling needs from Wiggle Butt BBQ Sauce, to Spiceology rubs, Le Creuset Alpine cookware, and lots of utensils and accessories. We’ve got some amazing grilling classes on the calendar this month and would love to have you join us:
Heat a gas grill to high (on one side if possible), or set a charcoal grill with an indirect heat
Season the hanger steak with Cowboy Crust (or rub of choice)
Grill steak over high heat for 2-3 minutes on each side, until 115 (this will be very rare but you’ll cook it again when the pizza is cooking). Remove and let it rest.
Put the whole red pepper, and corn (husk removed), on the grill, turn occasionally as they char. Remove the pepper's skin, dice it and remove the corn from the cob. Set aside.
Place the Alpine pizza pan on the grill, drizzle/spray a little cooking oil, and place the stretched dough on the pan, on the indirect side of the grill. You can quickly, and carefully use your hands to spread the dough to the edges of the pan.
Close the lid of the grill and let the crust cook for 2 minutes.
Spread about 1/4 cup (more or less based on the size of your pizza and personal preference) of Wiggle Butt BBQ sauce on the dough.
Sprinkle cheese on top of the sauce and allow it to cook with the grill lid closed for about 5 minutes.
Slice the hanger steak, on a bias (diagonal) while the pizza cooks.
Add the steak, corn, red pepper, and jalapeno to the pizza and cook for another 5 minutes, or until your crust is the desired level of golden brown, and your steak is cooked to your liking.
Top your cooked pizza with the fresh basil, scallions, and a drizzle of the remaining BBQ sauce.