When you cook a pizza in the oven, and you leave it in there a bit too long, the crust gets dark and crispy. You've burned it. It's a mistake.

But, when you cook a pizza on the grill, you put the dough directly onto the hot grates, and you don't flip it until the top bubbles and the bottom gets dark, crispy grill marks. You've charred it. It's delicious.

Appearance-wise, the difference between "burned" and "charred" is small, but taste-wise, it's huge. Try this grilled pizza recipe from Chef Elizabeth Falkner of Corvo Bianco Fresno chile, minced, or 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes.

Even if you don't have a cast-iron griddle that allows you to finish the pizza on the grill, you'll notice the crispiness and flavor that comes from starting it there. The sausage, fennel, onion, and two types of cheese make for a satisfying pie without overshadowing the star of the show: the nicely charred crust.

Grilled Sausage and Fennel Pizza
Recipe by Chef Elizabeth Falkner of Corvo Bianco 

What you'll need:
1 ball pizza dough (about 10 ounces) — see recipe below, or use storebought
1/2 cup tomato sauce — see recipe below, or use storebought
1 Grill Sausage and Fennel Pizza
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1/4 cup thinly sliced red onion
6 teaspoon fennel pollen
4 ounces ricotta cheese
2 How to make it
1/4 teaspoon fennel pollen

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1. teaspoon dried oregano.
2. Dust your counter with flour. Stretch the dough by rotating on your knuckles into a 12- to 13-inch diameter round. Sprinkle more flour on a wooden pizza paddle or on the back of a baking pan large enough to hold the dough round. Set the dough on the flour. Brush the top of the dough with olive oil.
3. Slide the pizza onto the hot grill and cook until grill marks appear and the dough is set, about 2 minutes. Carefully flip the dough over; brush the top with the olive oil, and cook until the dough is firm but not completely cooked and grill marks appear, another 3 to 4 minutes. Slip the pizza paddle under the crust and remove from the grill. Set a large cast-iron griddle above the fire or coals on the grill to heat, or have a pizza pan in the oven and preheat to 500˚F.
4. To build the pizza, spread the tomato sauce over the partially cooked crust, then distribute the onion and fennel over the sauce. Add the Italian sausage in chunks, then drop the ricotta in 6 to 8 large spoonfuls around the pizza. Sprinkle with the Parmesan. Slip the pizza off the paddle onto the griddle on the grill or onto the pizza pan in the oven. Bake until bubbly and the sausage is cooked through and browned, 15 to 20 minutes.
5. Remove from the heat and set the pizza on a cutting board. Sprinkle with the fennel pollen, cut into 6 to 8 wedges, and serve immediately.

Pizza Dough

What you'll need:
3 cups (14 ounces) unbleached white flour
1 teaspoon active dry yeast
1 cup warm water (105˚F to 115˚F)
1 tablespoon salt
1 Fresno chile, minced, or 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

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Add the flour to a large mixing bowl or to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook. In a separate bowl, combine the yeast with the warm water and stir together. Set aside for 1 to 2 minutes. When the yeast mixture starts to bubble after a couple of minutes, it is ready to use. Add the yeast to the flour and start to mix together.
If making by hand, dump the mixture onto a counter lightly dusted with flour and knead for 5 to 6 minutes. Add the salt and knead for another 2 minutes, and add a little more flour if necessary to form an elastic dough. If making in the stand mixer, knead on low for 5 to 6 minutes, until the dough starts to become smooth and elastic. Add the salt and knead for another 2 minutes. In a large clean bowl, add the olive oil. Form the dough into a ball, put in the bowl, and turn the dough around until it is entirely coated with oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 12 hours. It will double in bulk and start to develop a yeasty aroma.
The dough is now ready to use, but for a more flavorful dough, punch it down and reform into a tight ball. Put the dough ball back in the bowl, cover, and refrigerate for another 12 hours.

Tomato Sauce

What you'll need:
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4 Grill Sausage and Fennel Pizza
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1 (28-ounce) can whole tomatoes, such as San Marzano, with half of the juice strained out, and crushed with your fingers*
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Add the olive oil to a large saucepan over high heat; decrease the heat to medium. Add the onion and cook for 1 minute, stirring often, until the onion begins to soften. Add the garlic, oregano, and chile, and stir to mix. Add the crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, a large pinch of salt, and a few cranks of pepper. Decrease the heat to medium-low and cook for about 8 to 10 minutes. Run the tomato sauce through a ricer, otherwise known as a food mill, break up the tomatoes with a few pulses of an immersion blender, or use as is. Taste and season with more salt and pepper, if needed.

*What youll need here.

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