Pizza Party at Greasy Steve’s (aka our house)

Whether you are having to self-isolate or it’s post self-isolation having a pizza party is a creative and fabulous way of spending an evening. 

Being married to a Chef this is one of our favourite things to do for a fun and relaxing evening with the family or friends.  It takes very little time to prep the food, unless you are going crazy with toppings but that’s completely up to you.  Below I will give you a few simple quick toppings that will rock your world.  

Over the years we have tried several different ways of creating a wood burning pizza oven at home, without spending thousands of dollars on a gorgeous but expensive oven you use occasionally, especially if you live in a climate that doesn’t allow 12 months of backyard pizza making.  In the past we have purchased the pizza stones, which work but often crack and we have gone to the local hardware store and purchased untreated tiles which worked well again but after a few uses they crack as well.  The other issue is you do not get the same radiant heat on top with just using the stones, sure the bottom crust is wonderful and crispy, but the top is just ok. But in a pinch both these options work, I’d still suggest the untreated tiles, they cost a lot less than the pricey pizza stones you can get.  Just make sure to measure your bbq to make sure you are purchasing the right size of tiles. 

Or…drum roll please……you can purchase the best thing in the world! A Bakerstone Pizza Oven!!!!  This little oven comes in a BBQ version and now is available in a gas stove top version, which is fabulous for those people who do not have access to the bbq.  We have had ours now for a few years and it is amazing.  It allows you to cook anything that you could cook in a wood oven. I have not tried the stove top version (I may just have to treat our family to one) but if it works as well as the bbq version I’d say it’s worth every dime.

This oven fits perfectly on a three burner bbq.  Inside it is completely tiled and it has a small tray which you can put wood chips in to create a wood smoke flavour to your food. It is the best and cheapest pizza oven that we have tried.  In Canada where I live, they are currently selling around $140, and it is worth every penny! 

Last night we decided to do an experiment, we purchased premade dough from a local store, which we know has good quality high end food and we made our own dough to see which we liked the best.  When you make your own dough, it is ideal to make it the day before, portion it, put it on a sheet pan/cookie tray with a little olive oil drizzled over it, cover with plastic wrap and put it in the fridge overnight.  The next day take it out at least 6 hours before you are going to use it.  This will allow the dough to raise as well as rest.  You will know it’s ready when you pull it and it doesn’t spring back too much. 

Over the years we have used many different toppings. They ranged from seafood, pulled pork, pork belly, exotic mushroom, the list is endless of what we have put on a pizza.  We have our moments when we are 100% traditional, and then other moments when we are not just thinking outside of the box, we burned the box down.  One weekend a number of years ago we had our neighbours over, and their son loved to get in the kitchen with my husband.  Steve just let him design whatever he wanted.  Let’s just say we had some normal pepperoni pizzas, to an Elvis pizza that had bacon, peanut butter and bananas on it and a dessert pizza that had Nutella and fruitloops!    That night was one for our memories if not our tummies.  But it was a blast! 

Last night since we are all in self-isolation, we had to make do with what we had on hand. Also, my husband is an essential worker (he is the Executive Chef for a major grocery chain in our area), he has been working crazy hours lately and wanted a relaxing dinner, with not much prep work.   (I will confess right now that being married to a Chef, we have a lot of ingredients that the average person may not have but I try to keep as much fresh interesting ingredients around as well as interesting frozen meat cuts as well).  

Our ingredients last night included the BEST and simplest pizza sauce, caramelized onions with pancetta, pepperoni, prosciutto, shredded mozzarella, grated parmesan cheese.  We also went a bit crazy and used left oven taco meat (from our tacos the night before), guacamole, and salsa for a taco pizza (which was delicious and a bit outside of tradition).  The pizza sauce is so easy; chopped up garlic, olive oil and passata (tomato puree), plus a little salt and pepper to taste.  No cooking is required, it will cook on the pizza.  It is so fresh tasting and beyond yummy.  The onions and pancetta easy peasy, a little olive oil in a pan over medium to high heat, throw in the pancetta let it crisp up then throw in the onions and brown them, bringing out all that sugary yumminess. 

Then it’s game on.  Build as you wish.  As you build you will learn what works for you or not.  Ingredients above or below the cheese that is the question and it is totally up to you and what you prefer, I say try both and see what you like.  

The amazing thing about this kind of cooking experience is that it is like fondue without the molten lava that if spilt could scar you for life.  It’s an evening dining experience.  Good drinks, fun conversation, lots of laughs and amazing pizza.  Our dinner last night lasted just over two hours.  We tried many different versions of pizzas and ended with the most amazing dessert pizza (which I sacrificed my Easter treat for – but again well worth it) a Nutella, toasted marshmellow and turtle pizza. OMG! 

As for our pizza dough experiment; we enjoyed both, but our double O flour dough recipe was much more traditional thin crust the other one was more North American fluffy. 

It was a great evening one I hope to repeat again soon, hopefully with some friends that we don’t have to social distance from!  But if you are self-isolating, have access to a bbq why not have a pizza party and make the most of the time you are spending with your family.  

Everyone young and old can get involved! 

caramelized onion & fresh basil

Taco Pizza

caramelized onion & fresh basil

Meat Lovers

margarita & prosciutto

Dessert Pizza before 

Nutella, toasted Marshmallow & Turtle pizza