Happy Monday! I hope you had an excellent Father’s Day! I had no intention to do a newsletter on my recent pizza party, but I could not keep up with all the DM’s and email inquiries I received so here we are but without as many photos as I would usually have for you. As you know, I love entertaining at home, but my goal is not to impress anyone. I have nothing to prove. I am just looking for a good time! I think socializing at home is much more fun and relaxing than going out to a crowded restaurant. I also like thinking outside the box. Dinner parties are great, but I have also hosted “Happy Hours,” brunch, game viewings, and pizza parties.
Recently, I had a Friday night pizza party for 9 people. This was super easy and lots of fun. I can make my dough, but I had a really busy work week so I decided to buy it from Eataly. Most pizzerias will sell you dough and it is generally better than supermarket dough. In my area, Gelson’s has the best supermarket dough. I am not a fan of the dough at Whole Foods or Trader Joe’s.
What made this easy is that we have an Ooni pizza oven (we bought the original on Kickstarter) and we bought the propane attachment which has made all the difference. The pizzas cook in under 10 minutes each so you can churn out pizza after pizza with ease. Our oven is for outdoors but they make one for indoors too.
This was a two-person job and honestly, Hubs did most of the work. You can watch my very short Instagram reel here.
Menu:
Pre-Dinner Snacks and Drinks
We have a fully stocked bar, so people are welcome to make their own drinks. I always have fresh lime juice, fresh grapefruit juice, and fresh mint. I also had a small dish of fresh orange peels on a tray with ingredients for negronis (Gin, Campari, and Sweet Vermouth.)
I put out simple snacks aperitivo-style: my favorite Italian potato chips, pistachios and olives (all in separate dishes of course.)
Dinner
Insalata Tricolore (arugula, radicchio, endive with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper)
Pizzas (we made 14-inch)
Margherita
Pepperoni
White Pizza with Sauteed Spinach and Lemon Zest, served with fresh lemon wedges - this was the HANDS-DOWN Winner of the night!! Lemon on pizza is amazing.
White Pizza with Zucchini and Pesto
Roasted Eggplant, Tomato and Smoked Mozzarella
Dessert
My friend brought Handel’s ice cream and toppings for a sundae bar
Another friend brought dark chocolate chunk shortbread cookies
Fresh berries
Hubs made a “Dessert Pizza” with bananas, cinnamon-sugar, mini-marshmallows and chocolate chips (totally over the top!)
I bought 8 pizza doughs, a few containers of fresh mozzarella, a ricotta, and Mutti San Marzano DOP tomatoes which we pulsed in the blender and added olive oil and salt to taste. This is what the fancier pizzerias use instead of marinara sauce. It’s cleaner tasting and lighter - makes a huge difference!
The day before I made homemade pesto . The day of, I grilled the thinnest slices of zucchini, roasted chopped eggplant and sauteed some spinach.
Before our guests arrived, Hubs put a folding table outside and laid out all the toppings and tools, including pizza peels for getting the pizzas in and out.
He likes to stretch out all the dough an hour in advance and set them on these plates. When the pizzas are done, they can go back on those plates, but I like to set out big wood cutting boards on the dining table with pizza scissors.
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