PIZZA 101

When we celebrated our 10 year wedding anniversary, we bought an outdoor pizza oven. It was something both my husband and I always dreamed of and we love it. We make pizzas often but also have used it for baking bread, roasting lamb, turkey and pork roast. You name it, but this blog is on PIZZA.

When it comes to making pizzas at home, a chef always told us stick to the #3 rule. No more than 3 ingredients on a pizza. We stick to that rule and it makes the pizzas easier to cook. This rule applies to pizzas you may do in the oven, grill or pizza oven. The pizza chef also told us to always think about the combinations on a pizza and the weight proportions.

Here are some combinations to think about:

• Olive oil with roasted eggplant, zucchini and parmesan
• Pesto with Pecorino, asparagus and tomatoes
• Tomato pizza sauce, mozzarella and parmesan when out of the oven snipped basil
• Tomato sauce, Calabrian chili, and prosciutto
• Fresh figs, Gorgonzola, and prosciutto
• Pesto, fresh mozzarella balls, and fontina
• Olive oil, roasted peppers, eggplant and fontina
• caramelized onions, fontina when out of the oven arugula
• olive oil, ham, pineapple and mozzarella, my daughter’s fave
• BBQ sauce, leftover grilled chicken and mozzarella, my son’s

I do a great deal of prep work before we have a Pizza Party. I like to prep all my vegetables and ingredients:

• Slice eggplant into thin disks, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with Penzeys Spices Tuscan Sunset. Roast in an oven at 400 for 25-30 minutes
• Slice bell peppers, all colors, and toss with olive oil and Penzeys Roasted Garlic and roast in a 400 oven for 25 minutes
• Mushrooms tossed in oil with Penzeys Aleppo pepper and roasted for 15 minutes in a 400 oven
• Asparagus, broccolini, Zucchini, red onions, to name a few all are amazing on pizza. Toss with olive oil and seasoning of choice and roast in a 400 oven until golden and caramelized for the onions
• Toss cherry tomatoes with olive oil and balsamic and roast in a 375 oven for 20 min and put those on a pizza-DELICIOUS
• Have all your cheeses grated or sliced thin and have the meats you want to use prepared
• Figs and pineapple should be sliced thin so they cook. Figs caramelize in the heat and turn wonderfully sweet
• Get creative but don’t weight the pizza down or it won’t cook evenly