How to Host the Perfect Pizza Party

Making pizza at my house is all about interactive cooking. People love assembling pizzas with a variety of toppings and watching delicious steaming hot pizzas emerge from the oven. Once you have a portion of the perfect pizza dough waiting in your refrigerator, it’s simply a matter of gathering guests and toppings. You’re going to want to plan on having one pizza per guest (and maybe one extra), and I find it’s easiest to provide the pizza sauce and cheese myself while requesting that guests bring a variety of toppings (check out my suggestions at the bottom of the post).

Keep in mind, one person will have to be dedicated to transporting pizzas in and out of the oven and keeping a close eye on them inbetween. This person will be quite busy the whole time but will also be very well-loved; choose wisely! In my house, my boyfriend typically fills this role because he deals much better with the running back and forth than I do.

Basic Pizza
Yield: 6 10″ pizzas

Ingredients:

• 1 recipe of the perfect pizza dough
• olive oil
• 1 recipe of basic pizza sauce (see recipe below)
• 1 ball fresh mozzarella
• 1 lb hard cheese (a firmer mozzarella, parmesan, gruyere, or a mixture), shredded
• your choice of toppings (see below for suggestions)

Method:

1. Approximately 2 hours before you plan on rolling out the dough, remove 1 recipe of the perfect pizza dough from the fridge. Separate the dough into six pieces and roll each into a ball, coat lightly with olive oil, and put in individual bowls, covered with a damp towel, to rise.
2. Approximately 30 minutes to 1 hour before you plan on rolling out the dough, put a pizza stone in the oven and preheat the oven as high as it can go (550 degrees on mine).
3. When you’re ready to go, flour your pizza paddle, grab your first dough ball, and roll out to desired thickness, adding more flour as necessary to prevent it from sticking to the paddle – I like my crust thin and crispy so I try to go as thin as possible. Poke the top of the rolled-out crust all over with a fork (this stops it from rising in the oven and becoming a pita).
4. Slide the crust onto the pizza stone in your preheated oven and bake for two minutes or until the crust has started to brown on the underside.
5. Remove the crust from the oven and transfer to a cooling rack. Depending on how you want to time things, you can either keep going with more empty crusts or proceed to the next step – toppings!
6. Gather your guests and your choice of toppings around and top the pizza as desired – I recommend a hefty bit of pizza sauce, some slices of fresh mozzarella and a hard cheese of your choice, shredded.
7. Return the topped pizza to the oven for three minutes or until the cheese is melted. If your pizza stone is able to take it, turn the broiler on for the last minute to get the perfect melted cheese (but be careful! I speak from personal experience in saying that a pizza stone can crack in two from the broiler).
8. Remove the pizza to a cooling rack, and let cool for a few minutes before slicing.

Basic Pizza Sauce
Yield: enough sauce for 6 10″ pizzas

Ingredients:

• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 hot pepper, minced (optional)
• 1/4 cup alcohol of choice*
• 1 large can (28 – 32 ounces) crushed tomatoes
• 1/4 – 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 Tbsp dried or fresh oregano
• 1/2 Tbsp red pepper flakes
• salt and pepper, to taste

*I’ve used red wine, beer, and bourbon, all with great success.

Method:

1. In a medium-sized saucepan, heat 2 Tbsp olive oil over medium heat.
2. Add 3 cloves garlic, minced and 1 hot pepper, minced, and sautee until fragrant, about one minute.
3. Pour in 1/4 cup alcohol of choice and let cook one minute, scraping up any garlic or pepper bits.
4. Add 1 large can (28 – 32 ounces) crushed tomatoes, 1/4 – 1/2 cup sugar (depending on how sweet you like your sauce), 2 Tbsp dried or fresh oregano, and let simmer for at least 15 minutes (longer is better!).
5. Add salt and pepper, to taste and add more sugar, oregano, or red pepper flakes, if necessary.
6. Remove from heat and let cool 5 – 10 minutes before topping pizzas.

When it comes to loading up your pizza, you’ll want to think in three main categories: sauces (the first layer on top of the crust, apply a lot for maximum flavor or just a little to let the other pieces shine through), cheeses, and toppings. Here are some ideas for each one.

Sauces

• basic pizza sauce
• pesto
• olive oil with sea salt and minced garlic (brush on)
• onion or bacon jam
• fruit jam (makes an amazing dessert pizza, or can be a great addition to a savory pizza when combined with the basic pizza sauce)
• strawberry vinegar reduction (this can also be drizzled over the toppings – absolutely amazing with apples and cheddar)

Cheeses

• mozzarella
• cheddar
• gruyere
• parmesan
• gouda
• fontina
• feta
• goat cheese
• brie

Toppings

• fresh herbs (basil, mint, oregano, etc)
• greens (for heftier greens like swiss chard, sautee first)
• thinly sliced squash
• fresh tomatoes
• caramelized onions
• sauteed mushrooms
• anchovies (I recently picked up a jar of spicy Asian anchovies and they are fabulous on pizza)
• dried apricots
• fresh fruit (pear, apple, fig, and strawberry are all fantastic)