The ancient Greeks cooked their flat breads called plankuntos outdoors on hot stones and topped them with fruits, nuts, and other vegetation for seasonings. A few hundred years later and the Romans added to the dish with olive oil and more herbs and spices.

After the first cheeses were made it was also widely used as a topping for pizza. Once the first pizzeria was opened in Naples, Italy in the early 1800s it featured an elaborate brick oven complete with a marble counter for preparing the dough and assembling the toppings.

Brick or stone ovens for pizzas provide a more traditional experience and they can be fueled by electricity, gas, wood, or a combination of the latter two. A wood fueled brick oven provides heat from all angles allowing the pizza to cook evenly all around.

Pizza stones go hand in hand with these types of ovens and they too ensure a uniformly cooked pizza.

You will find that many authentic Italian eateries and restaurants have brick ovens and pizza stones to cook their pizzas to perfection. At home, we bake our pizzas in an ordinary oven using either prepackaged dough or the homemade variety. Most of us simply do not have the needed to space to install a brick or stone pizza oven in the kitchen but we can still mimic the flavor making our own pizzas especially when using a seasoned pizza stone.

As outdoor kitchens become more and more popular so does the outdoor pizza oven. However, fortunately you do not have to install a brick oven on the patio to enjoy pizzas cooked outdoors if you have a grill. Cooking pizzas on the grill has also become an easy and common way to make this rather tasty food.

Preheat the grill to medium.

In a medium sized mixing bowl combine the diced tomato, the rinsed black beans, and the kernels of corn and toss to mix.

On a baking pan or sheet large enough for a 12 inch pizza, sprinkle the cornmeal evenly before stretching the dough across the pan.

Grill the pizza with the lid closed for about 3 to 5 minutes or until the crust starts to puff up and the bottom is lightly browned.

Flip the pizza over and coat the dough with barbeque sauce. Add the tomato mixture then the shredded mozzarella cheese.

Grill again with the lid closed for another 3 to 5 minutes or until the crust is light brown and the cheese is melted.

Serves 4 to 6

Make your own delicious pizza on the grill or in the oven and add a selection of savory toppings instead of ordering the take out kind. Experiment with different types of pizza using various doughs and sauces if you are getting bored with the usual cheese and pepperoni variety.