Two Pizza Sundays, One Perfect Kickoff to Summer

How I hosted two back-to-back pizza nights with no stress and a whole lot of flavor

Happy Monday!  Somehow, summer always begins with pizza. Recently, I hosted not one but two Sunday night pizza parties. Different friends, slightly different menus, but the same breezy, joyful energy. These nights reminded me how fun it is to cook just enough and let the vibe (and the pizza) do the rest. Here's a look at how we pulled it off—plus decor ideas, prep timelines, and subscriber-only recipes if you're planning your own summer gathering.

Pizza Night No. 1 for 6 people

Hors d’oeuvres:

• Crudités: cucumber, carrot, celery, Little Gem

• Tuna + white bean dip (anchovy, lemon, capers—so savory)

• Crackers, olives, pistachios

• Crispy artichokes (see instructions below)

• Chunks of Parmesan (literally a big wedge of Parmigiano-Reggiano from Costco cut into chunks) 

Pizzas (5 total):

• Nerano (zucchini sauce + sautéed baby zucchini)

• White with Lemon

• Eggplant + tomato + smoked mozzarella 

• Margherita

Pizza Recipes

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Salads + Sides:

• Spicy Caesar 

• Italian Chopped (iceberg, roasted red peppers, cherry tomatoes, cucumber) with Oregano Vinaigrette (I added sliced shallot to the dressing)

• Meatballs + grilled bread

Dessert:

• Fresh fruit platter (cantaloupe, pineapple, cherries, strawberries, mint)

• Blueberry Lemon Tart (recipe coming to my site soon!) with CocoWhip

Pizza Night No. 2 for 7 people

Drinks:

• Fresh grapefruit + lime juice, mint, orange strips

Hors d’oeuvres:

• Crudités: cucumber, carrot, celery, Little Gem, fennel

• Herby White Bean Dip (recipe for paid subscribers below)

• Crackers, taralli, olives, pistachios, chunks of Parmesan

• Crispy artichokes

Pizzas (8 total — 2 of each, one gluten-free)

I bought a gluten-free dough from Trader Joe’s because one of my friends is GF. I thought the dough was not light and chewy and too sweet.  She likes it, but she also buys Manini’s GF dough.

• Nerano

• White with Lemon

• Eggplant + tomato + smoked mozzarella

• Margherita

Salads:

• Spicy Caesar 

• Italian Chopped with Oregano Vinaigrette

• Tricolore with Fennel, Orange + Pine Nuts (recipe for paid subscribers below)

Protein:

• Grilled Lemon-Rosemary Chicken Skewers, served with grilled lemon (I have a tip for how to grill before your guests arrive) (recipe coming next week!)

Dessert:

• Fruit platter

• Ice cream bar flavors: chocolate sorbet, coffee, vanilla, pistachio

  • Toppings: roasted balsamic strawberries, chocolate sauce (purchased), chocolate-covered espresso beans, amaretti cookies, sprinkles, flaky salt, olive oil, limoncello

• Sbrisolona (crunchy almond cookie bark)

The Look + Feel

We ate outside because that’s where the pizza oven is and I had a buffet set up in the dining room with the sliders open.  

• I used this linen throw on the dining table

• I’d like to buy some proper pizza serving pieces, but right now we’re using big cutting boards.  My friends gifted us these awesome pizza scissors!  Love them!  

• Everyone always asks about my ice cream pint servers.  They have little ice cream sccopers and are the chicest way to serve ice cream and one of my go-to hostess gifts.  Very unique!

What I Prepped in Advance (and When)

I’ll give you some general prep ahead tips:

I am ALWAYS entertaining-ready and stocked with drinks, ice, olives, condiments, napkins, votives, crackers, etc!  See this post.

Crudites can be prepped up to two days in advance.  I store in Zwilling Fresh & Save bags.

I buy dough and cheese from Eataly and flowers from Trader Joe’s two days in advance. Check your local pizzeria to buy dough. It’s better than supermarket dough.  Otherwise, here’s my homemade pizza dough recipe.

Salad dressings can be prepped several days in advance.

Lettuce/salad greens washed several days in advance.

Day of, given an invitation for 5:00 pm

Hubs sets up the pizza table outside with all ingredients, flour etc. He just got this checkered vinyl table cover which is great.

Pizza dough is removed from fridge at 4:00 pm (Hubs starts cooking pizza at 6:00 pm)

Assemble hors d’oeuvres 1 hour in advance

Artichokes are on paper towels in advance and roasted with olive oil, salt and pepper at 425 degrees for about 25 minutes (I do in the toaster oven.)

Meatballs are baked around 4 pm and then transferred to a slow cooker with sauce and set on the low setting until 6 pm when I served them

Same thing for the chicken - grilled at 4:45 pm but not cooked all the way through. Transferred to a slow cooker and set to low until 6:00 pm.

A little something extra for my paid subscribers to thank you for supporting my work.  Paid subscribers have access to the entire library of newsletters!