Dinner Tonight: Pizza takes to the grill for user-friendly supper

Making pizza on the grill turns out to be so user-friendly that a friend decided to throw a "make-your-own" pizza party recently for her very picky teenage daughter and her daughter's friends.

The party menu earned a rare (and treasured) "Mom rocks" review from her 15-year-old. When everyone had a chance to add favorite ingredients for made-to-order pizzas, I chose one of my favorite late-summer combinations: tomatoes and olives.

Tip: Shop the supermarket salad bar for topping suggestions: With pizza, everything goes.

• GRILLED TOMATO AND OLIVE PIZZA

Preparation time: 20 minutes

Cooking time: 15 minutes

Yield: Three servings

1⁄2 pint cocktail or grape tomatoes, halved

1⁄2 red onion, thinly sliced

1⁄4 cup olive oil, divided use

3 tablespoons each: pitted kalamata olives, drained, chopped sun-dried tomatoes

1⁄2 teaspoon salt

Freshly ground pepper

1 package unbaked pizza dough, stretched into 12-inch round, or prepared (12-inch) pizza crust, see note

2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

1⁄4 to 1⁄2 cup shredded fontina cheese

2 tablespoons each: torn basil leaves, shredded Parmesan cheese

Procedure

Heat a grill to high. Combine the tomatoes, onion, 3 tablespoons olive oil, olives, sun-dried tomatoes, salt and pepper to taste in a bowl, tossing to coat with your hands. Brush the remaining 1 tablespoon of the olive oil over both sides of the pizza crust.

Place the dough over a direct heat on grill; cook until puffy, about two minutes; turn over. Cook two minutes. Move crust to a cooler part of the grill; top with the tomato-olive mixture. Sprinkle the parsley, fontina and basil over the top. Cover grill; cook until cheese melts, about eight minutes. Sprinkle with Parmesan. Cover; cook until cheese melts, about two minutes. Remove from grill; cut into wedges.

Note: If you are using a prepared crust, follow directions on the package for cooking instructions.