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Have you ever hosted a pizza-making party?
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Anonymous
| I'm having one in a couple of weeks for our neighbors and kids. Was thinking of doing individuals for the four kids (so they can top and "bake" their own) and then a few bigger ones for the adults...but I've never don this before. I want to make it as simple as possible. Any tips from anyone who might have done this before? |
Anonymous
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I rolled out & queued up the crusts ahead of time since that takes so long. I put each on a floured piece of parchment paper - 2-3 pizzas per baking sheet (handy for carrying around a bunch; stacked, turning each pan by 90 degrees). Had out all of the toppings & either a red sauce or garlic-infused olive oil for white pizzas (I helped the kids with this part because it was too easy for them to get too wet/oily). Had the kids go first. DH grilled them up one at a time, but it went quickly because they only take 4-5 min per pizza. Put the pizza on the pizza stone with the paper for 1 minute and then slip it out because otherwise it'll burn. take off the stone with a pizza peel.
So yummy & fun!! |
Anonymous
| actually we did one or two appetizers ones first to hold everyone over... |
Anonymous
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We did this for ny daughter's birthday party. We used those red squirt bottles for the sauce for the kids. It saved on clean up. We also covered the table with a plastic tablecloth. Not sure if that suits your style. It wasn't my style until we had 8 five year olds over to make their own pizzas. I handed out aprons, too. Mark the foil with initials if you have a lot to bake.
It was her best party, of the 7 we've had. |
Anonymous
We did something similar - but I bought aprons from Michaels and had the kids decorate their aprons (while I got the crusts ready and chatted with the parents). Keep the kids' pizzas a little smaller (especially if you serve a side salad) so they'll all fit in the oven and be bake all together. There is nothing worse than having a kid have to wait extra long for his/her pizza since it didn't fit in the first go around. You may want to limit the number of toppings to choose from. We had a younger group so I only offered one type of cheese and 4 other types of toppings. Sometimes less is more. And pizza doesn't bake as well if there are too many toppings loaded on. |
Anonymous
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No, but I am going to tell you the best pizza I ever made the other night; sorry I know it has nothing to do with your post but it was so good I was seriously patting myself on the back for it
Trader Joe's herb/garlic pizza dough TJ's pizza sauce mixed with 1 can diced tomatoes and some fresh chopped basil TJ's diced pancetta sautéed prior to putting on the pizza fresh mozzarella cheese shredded parm cheese fresh spinach roll out dough spread with sauce sprinkle with mozzarella, then pancetta, then spinach then parm cheese bake on 425 on pizza stone for 25 minutes sooooooo good Also Williams and Sonoma had individual deep dish pizza pans that work really good, might be good for a pizza party |
Anonymous
| Those balls of dough at the store - they make at least 4 thin crust individual pizzas - more if you make small kid ones... |
Anonymous
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The biggest problem we had is that our oven only fit a couple pizzas at a time, then you wait 10 minutes before the next ones go in, then wait again, etc. I like the idea of doing a couple pan pizzas while doing a couple on a pizza stone. Buy a few small disposable aluminum pans for that.
We make a lot of pizza at home and my new favorite is "Detroit Style", which you bake in a pan, put the cheese on the dough and the sauce on top - great flavor! |
Anonymous
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I've done pizza making parties a couple of ways. My favorite is to do them on the grill. It sounds scarier than it is, I promise! The clean up is easy and you can run around outside. I've also done mini-deep dish ones using muffin top pans. One time for a picnic party for 4/5 year olds we made them on english muffins- but I can tell this isn't the type of thing you're looking for in the event.
Another option is to pre-bake the crusts and then have them top them then throw them back in the oven or grill. Think boboli-style. |
Anonymous
| OP here. Thanks for all the great input. This is what I'm mostly worried about...how do you get them all cooked at the same time (or relatively the same time)? I like the idea of splitting between a stone and pans. So you bought a couple of disposable round pizza-type pans? And can someone tell me more about doing them on the grill? How does that work exactly? I was in Williams Sonoma yesterday and the woman showed me a stone contraption that is made to go on the grill....but it was $100, of course. Is there another way? Oh, and that pizza recipe sounds yummy. With a 4 yr old and a younger one, we see more pizza-making in our future anyway. |
Anonymous
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pp here: prep the dough (I make my dough in the breadmaker). pre-heat grill to high heat. make sure your grates are clean and oil with Pam for grilling (it won't smoke at high temps). put a flattened round of dough directly on the grates. Don't panic- it won't fall through!
After a few minutes see if it will move by grabbing it w/ tongs. If it does then it is ready to flip. Flip it then top the cooked side w/ toppings. There is absolutely no need for a stone or anything like that, but if you prefer those (so that you don't need to flip the pizza) then you can used UNGLAZED quarry tile (like the terra cotta kind) or even unglazed travertine or something like that. Just make sure you temper them before hand to make sure there are no bubbles that will cause it to crack or break. Then when you are ready to use it turn the grill on for a good 20 minutes before hand to get them hot enough to work. |
Anonymous
I'm the one who suggested the pans. Making dough is very easy. I like this recipe: http://www.cdkitchen.com/recipes/recs/397/Basic_Pizza_Dough1520.shtml. It's enough dough for 4 or 5 individual sized pizzas. I've tried to make pizza sauce but, for me, nothing beats Don Pepino's canned sauce - nice fresh tomato taste. The pans we use are small disposable aluminum rectangular pans about 7" by 10" available at Giant. I've never grilled pizza but I've seen it done. Good video on youtube showing how to do it - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJ3iv9il1Io |
Anonymous
| I'm a teacher who leads cooking classes for kids on the side. I'm happy to advise or even lead this aspect of the party. If you're interested, I'll share contact info. |
Anonymous
We have that pizza stone and use it all of the time - out on the grill and also in the oven during the winter. It's also great to bake bread. There are cheaper ones out there - I think Sur La Table had one a lot cheaper? And you can also "make" your own as PP mentioned. We've been making pizzas for a long time and the stone makes a HUGE difference! Very crisp on the bottom & cooks very quickly. On the grill it is really only 4-5 minutes. I think more like 5-10 in the oven? |
Anonymous
| I watched Alton Brown make pizza one day and he recommended unglazed quarry tiles as pizza stones, apparently you can get one for like 5 bucks at Home Depot. So you could get a bunch of those and just line them up in the oven and put a couple on the grill depending how big they are |