An affordable and simple meal to make on the BBQ during grilling season

Home economist Jodi Kachkar has tips for affordable and easy meals at a time when food insecurity is at an all-time high.

Pizza is a widely-loved staple of households, with more than five billion sold worldwide each year, and what’s better than eating a nice, fresh slice of your favourite pie? Eating one you made yourself on the cheap.

While data from Statistics Canada shows that food prices are beginning to stabilize, food insecurity and food bank usage is at an all-time high.

• Monthly food bank use soars to record 2 million, driven by cost of groceries, housing

Home economist Jodie Kachkar has tips – and recipes – for people who still want to indulge in a slice of pizza without breaking the bank.

First, she recommends making your own pizza dough, though affordable dough is also available at stores like a local Italian grocer.

Homemade sauce is also an easy alternative to higher-cost packaged products, and is as simple as mixing water, tomato paste, olive oil and spices.

For toppings, she suggests using whatever you happen to have in your fridge. If you need to go and get meat, usually only 20 to 50 grams of something like pepperoni are needed from the deli counter.

When it comes to cheese, Kachkar says that going with a cheaper mozzarella isn’t going to have much effect on the taste of the pizza as it’s more about quantity for cheese. She adds pre-shredded cheese is more expensive and will go bad faster, so a brick of cheese is better.

The cooking time will depend on how hot your BBQ gets and how warm it is outside, but it should cook quickly, according to Kachkar.

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The recipe below is specifically for pizza on the BBQ, but the methodology works for the oven, air fryer or however you like to cook your pizza.

Tools needed:

• Pizza stone that fits on BBQ (Kachkar recommends measuring your BBQ before buying one)
• Parchment paper
• Pizza peel (a sort of large wooden spatula for pizza), if you don’t have one, you can use a large pan or plate and a regular spatula (make sure it’s on the parchment paper first so it doesn’t stick)
• Rolling pin

Jodie Kachkar’s Homemade Pizza on the BBQ

Pizza Dough

Ingredients:

• 2 cups (500mL) flour
• 1 teaspoon (5mL) salt
• 2 teaspoons (10mL) yeast (instant or quick rise)
• 2 tablespoons (30mL) olive oil
• ¾ cup (175 mL use a liquid measure) hot water (from your tap)
• ½ tsp (2.5mL) olive oil (second amount)

Instructions for making the dough:

1. In your large mixing bowl, combine the flour, salt and yeast. Mix to combine.
2. Add the first amount of the oil and the hot water.
3. Stir with a spoon until a sticky ball of dough forms.
4. Turn the dough out of the bowl onto the counter and knead with your hands until the dough is smooth and no longer sticky. You MAY need to add more flour.
5. At this point, dough can be frozen and then thawed for 12 hours before using, or allowed to rise at room temperature for two hours and then used. It can also be placed in the fridge to rise slowly for 24 hours.

Uncooked Pizza Sauce - not suitable for thin crust pizza

Ingredients:

• ¾ cup (375mL) water
• 1 can of tomato paste
• ⅓ cup (80mL) olive oil
• 2 tsp (10 mL) of chopped garlic
• 2 tsp (10mL) dried oregano
• 2 tsp (10mL) dried basil
• ½ tsp (2.5mL) dried rosemary
• Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

1. Use your hands or the back of a spoon to crush up the rosemary in a small bowl.
2. Add remaining ingredients and mix well, using a fork to start and switching to a spoon or a spatula.
3. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
4. Store in an airtight container. This sauce stores well and also freezes well. Bring it to room temperature and mix well before using.

Spinach Pesto

Ingredients:

• 3 cups (750mL - use a dry measure) spinach or 2 cups spinach, 1 cup fresh basil.
• 1 clove of garlic
• ⅓ cup (80mL) almonds or pine nuts (optional)
• 2 Tbsp (30mL) grated parmesan cheese (optional)
• ½ tsp (2.5mL) salt
• Pinch of pepper
• 2 tsp (10mL) dried basil
• ½ cup (125mL) olive oil
• ½ lemon

Instructions:

1. Squeeze the lemon into a bowl and discard any seeds.
2. In your blender, combine the spinach, garlic, nuts and parmesan (if using), lemon juice, salt, pepper and basil. Add in about ½ the oil.
3. Pulse to combine by turning the blender on and off. Then, while it’s running, drizzle in the rest of the oil.
4. Transfer into a bowl and season with salt and pepper. Store in an airtight container.
5. Pesto can be kept in the fridge for 7-10 days or frozen for three months.

Cooking the pizza

1. Cut two pieces of parchment paper the size of your pizza stone (or three if it is particularly small)
2. Preheat your BBQ and pizza stone on maximum heat for about 20-30 minutes.
3. Divide your dough into halves and roll out/spread out on the parchment paper, making sure the pizza fits on your stone. Trim any extra paper so that there is very little showing (or it will burn).
4. Top your pizza then use your flipper/lifter or pizza peel to place it on your stone/BBQ.
5. Cook for 6-8 minutes (Kachkar often turns down the BBQ to medium at this point.)
6. Allow your pizza stone to cool in the BBQ for several hours before removing and storing it.