4 ingredient challenge: Grilled Focaccia Bread Pizza with Pomegranate Citrus Shrimp and Broccoli

It’s that time again folks: Time for the “4 Ingredient Challenge” that includes 4 ingredients picked randomly, 8 food bloggers, and what we came up with! October’s ingredient challenge tasked us with coming up with something tasty using these 4 ingredients: shrimp, focaccia bread, broccoli and pomegranate. Wow, what an interesting combo! The only rule is that the protein must be cooked on the grill. Everything else is fair game!

I decided to make a focaccia pizza using shrimp, broccoli and red onions as the topping. I marinated the shrimp in a citrus, ginger and pomegranate mixture for flavor, and then grilled all the veggies and shrimp accordingly. I then baked the focaccia bread on the grill, then added my toppings to cook on the grill and melt with the cheese.

I will tell you folks, I usually like to keep things pretty simple on my blog as I don’t like making fussy, 10 step recipes that turn making dinner into a big production. I empathize with busy, overworked people without a lot of extra time on their hands who still enjoy week night grilling.

Having said that, I recommend this recipe for a weekend night so you have plenty of time to let the dough rise for the focaccia bread. OR, make the dough the night before if you are doing this on a weeknight.

Step by Step Directions:

Step One:

Focaccia Bread Recipe: I used a foccaccia bread recipe I found online and augmented it for baking on the grill. As I stress to the women who come to my women’s grilling clinics, think of your grill like an outdoor oven! Direct heat= broiler, indirect heat= oven.

Focaccia Bread Ingredients (as found on All Recipes)
*1 teaspoon white sugar
*1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
*1/3 cup warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
*2 cups all-purpose flour
*2 tablespoons olive oil
*1/4 teaspoon salt

In a small bowl, dissolve sugar and yeast in warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.
In a large bowl, combine the yeast mixture with flour; stir well to combine. Stir in additional water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until all of the flour is absorbed. When the dough has pulled together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead briefly for about 1 minute.
Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 30 minutes.
While the dough is rising, start on your pomegranite marinade.
After the dough has sat and risen a bit, deflate the dough and turn it out onto a lightly floured surface; knead briefly. Roll the dough into a rectangle or square. Brush the dough with oil and sprinkle with sea salt.

Pomegranate-citrus marinade ingredients

1 pomegranite- peel removed
1 cup of orange juice
2 heaping tablespoons ginger
3 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons key lime infused canola oil (I used Floribbean brand). If you cant find this, use a little less oil and add a tablespoon lemon juice with zest mixed in
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

Additional Ingredients:

1/2 to 1 lb shrimp
1 large head of broccoli
1/2 large red onion, sliced in rings
1 large container goat cheese or cheese of your prefernce (I used half goat cheese and half mexican cheese blend but we liked the pizza with the goat cheese best!)

Step Two

Marinade directions:

Peel the pomegranate. Bring the oj, pom. seeds, honey, ginger to simmer. Let simmer for 15 minutes. Take a spoon and mash the pom. seeds. in the mixture to try to release the juice. Add the keylime canola oil. After simmering for at least 15 minutes, strain the pom seeds out.

Put the marinade in the freezer so it can cool quickly. To make the best use of your time, now go ahead and wash and cut your veggies and peel your shrimp.

Once the marinade has cooled to room temp, add the shrimp. While the shrimp are marinating, go preheat the grill to medium heat, 350 degrees.

Using a grill pan, grill the broccoli and onion until slightly wilted. Remove the veggies and put them in a bowl. Next, add the shrimp. Grill for about 3 minutes or until pink, then remove. Do not overcook, they will be put back on the pizza to continue cooking.

Before adding the focaccia dough, make sure the grill is well coated with nonstick spray. Add a bit of olive oil to your foccaccia bread so it is less likely to stick. Also add a nice bit of sea salt for taste.

Bake the bread on medium low heat. Let it bake with the lid closed for 5 minutes, then go check on it to make sure it doesn’t have any hot spots (more brown than others). Grill on one side until char marks have formed, then flip over.

After flipping the focaccia over, let it cook for about 2 minutes, then add your veggies, shrimp and cheese. Close the lid and let the pizza continue to cook until the cheese has started to melt. Be careful to not burn the bottom of the foccaccia bread as you melt the cheese!

Congrats! You just made your first focaccia pizza! This pizza is nice change from your average thin crust pizza as the hearty focaccia really holds up well with lots of ingredients. The broccoli gets a nice flavor from the grill that is complemented by the goat cheese. While the pomegranate seeds can be rather tricky to remove, the health benefits (they are loaded in antioxidants) well outweigh the trouble of peeling the fruit. Hope you enjoy this interesting spin on your classic pizza on the grill.

About the “On Our Grills” 4 Ingredient Challenge Bloggers

Grilll Adventures by Broadcast Marc (our newest blogger from the Netherlands!)

Grill Adventures by broadcastmarc was started in March of 2010. I started the BBQ thing when I was 30, before that we ate a lot outside. had fun, but when the kids came into our life we started serious cooking. Most of it is really healthy I think). The grill has a special place in my heart because we love to do things outside. Everything I make is an adventure, and sometimes we use the books. We try to grill as much as we can year round.

Marc’s Ingredient Challenge Recipe:
http://broadcastmarc-grilladventures.blogspot.com/2010/10/challenge-october-2010.html
The BBQ Grail
The BBQ Grail website was created in 2007, initially to document the author?s quest to find the perfect backyard BBQ experience. Since that time The BBQ Grail has become one of the more popular BBQ blogs on the internet and is listed on Alltop.com as one of the top BBQ blogs.
Larry’s October Challenge Recipe
http://thebbqgrail.com/2010/oct-challenge
Into the Flames
Rob launched Into The Flames in the summer of 2010 as a way to share his passion for cooking, eating, and exploring food.
His October Challenge Recipe:
http://intotheflames.com/?p=1984
Nibble Me This
Nibble Me This is Chris Grove?s blog about my misadventures in live fire cooking.  ?I have no culinary training?.I?m just entertaining myself with fire and food?.
Chri’s October Challenge Recipe:
http://www.nibblemethis.com/2010/10/october-on-our-grills-4-ingredient.html

The No Excuses BBQ website was started in January of 2009 as a way to record the author?s goal of barbecuing at least once a week throughout the year and showing the results to the world.  Somewhere along the way things got out of control; two years later the streak is intact and shows no sign of stopping anytime soon.  In the process, No Excuses BBQ has become a fairly popular BBQ location on the web and is listed as one of the top BBQ blogs on Alltop.com.
NO Excuse’s October Ingredient Challenge Recipe:
http://noexcusesbbq.com/archives/4002

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