Together with the outdoor kitchen, the barbecue and the wood burning brazier are the true essence of summer because, needless to say, it is great to cook and eat in the open air. But do you really know how many things you can cook on a professional grill? If you can get a clear idea, read below… you will discover the most delicious barbecue recipes and everything you can cook on an outdoor kitchen.

Pleasant spring evenings and dinners organized in the middle of summer match perfectly with the meat sizzling on the coals and the smell of roast. In the USA, BBQ is more than a lifestyle: for Americans, it is like a sacred ritual and an absolute must at Sunday lunches or parties with friends. A convivial moment in which cooking becomes pure fun. Are you only thinking about grilled meats? You are making a mistake! Barbecue recipes are so popular on the web that there are countless dishes that can be made with this (fundamental) component of outdoor kitchens.

Barbecue recipes: from pizza to ragu, from egg baskets to fish…

There are real fanatics who know all the tricks and love to cook with the barbecue because the taste of grilled food is really fantastic. Leaving aside grilled T-bone steaks, steaks, sausages and meat skewers, which need no introduction, we want to surprise you with the countless possibilities that an outdoor kitchen can offer.

Here are the most delicious BBQ recipes you have to try as soon as possible

• Sunday ragu 

Needless to say, when it comes to traditional recipes, the combination of “tradition/use of fire” is already winning. Imagine slowly cooking the sauce on a charcoal barbecue. Need I say more?

• How to cook pizza on the barbecue

If you have tried to make pizza in your home oven, you must have noticed that the smell and taste is very different from that of the pizza bought in a pizzeria. It goes without saying that the difference comes from the type of cooking. Then why not make a pizza on BBQ, taking full advantage of the characteristics of this fantastic product? Indeed, the barbecue has a lid and, if closed, it turns into a real oven, reaching temperatures identical to those of a professional wood oven. Try to make this barbecue recipe, your pizza will taste particularly delicious!

 

• How to cook eggs on the barbecue

A really quick recipe that can be prepared in little more than 10 minutes is that of egg baskets and BBQ bacon. This recipe can be the background to many other similar dishes: in fact, any vegetable and any cured meat can be combined with eggs. Therefore, success is guaranteed even if you try something different to this solution. This recipe requires the following ingredients:

 

– 8 slices of bacon (if you prefer you can use strained bacon) cut not too thick

– 4 eggs

– Salt and pepper or your favourite spice mix (read our guide on how to prepare rub at home)

– Extra virgin olive oil

– Aluminium ramekins or muffin moulds

 

Prepare your device for indirect cooking by stabilising the temperature at 180 °C

Paint the ramekins or the muffin moulds with extra virgin olive oil

Cut the slices of bacon in half and place them in the ramekins making sure that they cover and adhere to all the walls and that they come out slightly

Sprinkle the slices of bacon with salt and pepper or with your favourite rub

Break the eggs and fill the baskets, taking care not to damage the yolk

Sprinkle again, this time the egg, with salt and pepper or with the rub

Place the ramekins on the indirect heat side of the grill

Close the lid and leave to cook for about 15-20 minutes or until the bacon is golden and the egg white is set

Serve the egg and bacon baskets while they are still warm

• How to cook fish on the barbecue

Even fish, if cooked on the BBQ grill, has a more delicious, intense and inviting flavour. From sea bream to snapper, from salmon to sea bass, everything takes on a different look and feel when you come across a grilled fish. If you are good enough to roast some radicchio and some zucchini, and if you are careful enough to get the perfect cooking times of the fish, you will run the risk of participating in next year’s Masterchef! An easy fish to prepare, that impresses any palate when cooked on the barbecue, is salmon. This requires high heat and a few minutes on the grill. If you are 4, you will need: 4 salmon fillets of 200 g; a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil; 125 g of tarragon butter that you can prepare by mixing in a bowl the softened butter with 2 tablespoons of chopped tarragon and a grind of black pepper: make a cylinder and keep it in the fridge wrapped in cling film until ready to use. Paint the fish fillets with oil, cook them on the barbecue, let them rest for a few moments, season them with a few drop of lemon juice and serve them with tarragon butter curls. This is great, right?

Gas or charcoal barbecue? Pay attention to temperatures

The barbecue par excellence is the charcoal one. There is no need to make a fuss: the coal must be of high quality and burn well, and the food must not come into direct contact with the fire. Having said that, the game is won by default: food cooked in this way gives off a unique smoky aroma that no one can resist. This is all because of Maillard reaction, that is the complex series of phenomena which occurs as a result of the interaction of sugars and proteins during the cooking of foods and which awakens the most primitive feelings we have in our DNA.

The kitchen garden that is changing the habits of Italians

An ancient method of cooking that has integrated into the most advanced design: the kitchen garden, also called outdoor kitchen, has turned the household gathered around a fireplace or a small ember into a live social food that now boasts many followers, the real ones though!