PIZZA PARTY
Fire up your portable oven and crank out custom pies on your patio
Who doesn't love pizza? Crust, sauce, cheese, toppings: It's the perfect recipe for a dinner everyone will love.
My husband and I recently bought a portable outdoor pizza oven (ours is an Ooni), and we have been churning out pizzas for friends and family with abandon.
It took a few tries for us to get the dough right, and I'm still experimenting there — sourdough and fermented dough are next on my agenda — but what we've accomplished so far is so fun and easy that I wanted to share.
There are lots of options for portable pizza ovens, but we wanted an oven that was small enough to transport to the cabin or friends' houses, and we were also hoping for some wood-fired flavor. We landed on the Ooni Fyra 12, which is fired solely through wood pellets — the same kind we use in our Traeger smoker/grill. It weighs about 20 pounds and has a carrying case (purchased separately) so is easy to transport, too.
We have the operation down pat now, after figuring out that you must add a small scoop of pellets after every pizza to keep the fire hot. We also purchased a metal peel and a metal turner, the former of which makes launching pizzas into the oven a breeze, and the latter of which ensures an evenly cooked crust, since you can do quarter or eighth turns every 15 seconds.
It's a very active process — no sitting and waiting for your pizza to cook — but also extremely fast. A 12-inch Neapolitan pizza cooks in less than two minutes. My husband and I usually tag-team: He mans the oven while I stretch the dough and top the pizzas.
It's fun to have a toppings
bar so everyone can make their favorites or whip up a fun new creation. I prep the toppings and sauce beforehand — usually the day before so that I'm not exhausted by the end of pizza day — and make the dough for the crust the day of the party. Thanks to my trusty stand mixer, the dough comes together in a matter of minutes.
One batch of crust makes six 12-inch pizzas. I figure on about
a pizza and a half per person, especially since we always have salads or other side dishes. Leftovers are great reheated or eaten cold from the refrigerator the next day.
I'm including the crust and red sauce recipes I use, along with a fun list of topping ideas and some combinations to try. A big bonus of making pizzas: Leftovers from other meals can be toppings! Scraps of chicken from
rotisserie or beer can chicken, bits of ham, that half-carton of mushrooms languishing in your refrigerator drawer — all make great toppings.
You can make these in your home oven or grill with a pizza stone, too. I've seen recipes that use a broiler to mimic the intense heat of a wood-fired oven, but many gas grills also reach high enough temperatures to cook a Neapolitan.
Homemade pizza dough keeps in the refrigerator overnight. For longer storage, wrap it well and freeze it. When you're ready to make your pizza, let the dough thaw and allow it to rise for 30minutes first.
Classic Pizza Dough
Makes enough for six 12-inch pizzas
INGREDIENTS
607 grams or 21.4 ounces 00 type flour
364 grams or 12.8 ounces water
18 grams or 4 teaspoons salt
9.2grams or .3ounces active dried yeast (or 7grams or .24ounces of instant dried yeast)
DIRECTIONS
Place two-thirds of the water in a large bowl. In a saucepan or microwave, bring the other third of the water to a boil, then add it to the cold water in the bowl. This creates the correct temperature for activating the yeast. Whisk the salt and yeast into the warm water.
Fit a stand mixer with a dough hook and place the flour in the mixer bowl. Turn the machine on at a low speed and gradually add the yeast mixture to the flour. Once combined, leave the dough to keep mixing at the same speed for 5-10minutes, or until the dough is firm and stretchy. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and leave to rise in a warm place for 1-2 hours.
When the dough has roughly doubled in size, weigh out 160 gram (5.6 ounce) balls. Space out balls on a sheet pan that's been lightly coated with olive oil — I can usually fit about 9 dough balls per sheet. Cover in plastic wrap and leave to rise for at least 20more minutes, but I often leave them for an hour or so as I'm prepping our workspace.
When ready to cook the pizzas, stretch or roll the dough into 12-inch rounds, place on floured peel, top and launch into the oven.
Tip: You can freeze leftover dough. Wrap individual balls tightly in plastic wrap. Thaw and allow to rise for 30minutes before using.
— Adapted from Ooni
One of the tricks to making a great pizza is to go easy on the sauce. Too much marinara or pizza sauce makes the crust soggy, which detracts from the taste experience.
Pizza Sauce
Makes enough for about a dozen pizzas
INGREDIENTS
1(28-ounce) can high-quality whole peeled tomatoes (preferably San Marzano), drained 1tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon red wine vinegar
2small garlic cloves (or 1large), minced
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon dried oregano
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
DIRECTIONS
Process all ingredients in a food processor until smooth, about 30 seconds. Transfer to a bowl and refrigerate until ready to use.
— Adapted from “The Outdoor Cook” from America's Test Kitchen