Pizza Party

This is my second winter in Sagle and it’s another doozy. I’m no stranger to winter, having lived just 120 miles south of here in Moscow for the past 15 years. We had winter there, I shoveled my sidewalk quite a few mornings on the way to work, and there would even be berms of snow in the middle of the streets some winters. I know how to use my ABS brakes and how to turn into a skid. But the past two winters aren’t something you can prepare for. Shoveling every day gets old fast and shoveling off the roof wasn’t on my “must do before I die” list (but now it’s been checked off several times). This winter is turning out to be snowier and colder than last winter (which is hard to believe) and it’s the cold that drives me into the kitchen.

Cranking up the oven is not the most efficient way to heat a house unless, of course, you can make something delicious in it while it’s good and hot. After consuming more than my share of sweets over the holidays, I was looking for a savory reason to turn the oven up to its hottest. Having a pizza party was the perfect excuse.

The pizzas I planned to make for the party would be a far cry from the original pizza that developed in Naples, Italy in the 18^th century. Those original pies were much simpler. They took an age-old ingredient, the flat bread, and topped it with the New World tomato (which had recently lost its reputation for being poisonous). There were only two types of pizza in Naples in those days: the Marinara, which was topped with tomatoes, herbs, garlic and olive oil, and the Margherita, named for the queen who loved that the toppings (tomatoes, basil and mozzarella cheese) were in the color of the Italian flag.

Pizza was sold on the streets in the poor sections of Naples in those days but it slowly made its way into the middle class diet and on into Rome where the crust style got thinner and the toppings changed a bit.

Italian immigrants brought pizza with them to the US but it didn’t gain popularity until soldiers who had served in Italy during WWII came back hankering for a slice. Then there was no stopping pizza from becoming one of the most popular foods in the States. And like everything that comes to the USA, we had to mess with it a bit and make it our own. In fact, it seems every area of the country had to change things up a bit to make it unique to the region. There’s New York style, New Haven style, Chicago style, St. Louis style and I haven’t even gotten half way across the country. Each regional style is defined by either their crust, their sauce or their toppings, none of which resemble the traditional Neapolitan pizza but all of which taste really good (except maybe the St. Louis style which tastes more like ketchup on saltines to me and I tried to like it for the nine years I lived there).

But enough about pizza from long ago and far away, let’s plan our North Idaho style pizza party (North Idaho style would be defined as crust from a French cookbook and whatever topping are on hand because you couldn’t get to the store due to the snow). First you’ll need to invite some friends (preferably no one on a diet, low cal pizza isn’t worth the effort). Ask them to bring a few toppings they’d like to share. I always invite my friend Carla because she makes this killer pesto that makes a great pizza sauce (and she lots of fun too). Depending on how many people you’re expecting, start mixing up a batch of dough to make enough for everyone to have at least half a pie (hopefully this will leave you with some leftovers) about two hours before you want to start baking. I crank up the oven to 475F as soon as I make the dough. I know it’s probably wasteful (I tell myself it helps the dough rise better) but I love how it warms up the house while we’re preparing toppings.

As for toppings, if you like it on its own, it’ll taste even better on a pizza. I’ve used everything from your standard pepperoni and cheese to grilled chicken in peanut sauce, to just olive oil and grilled onions. My only rules for toppings are they shouldn’t be too wet or they’ll make the crust soggy, and any meat should be pre-cooked. Sauté the mushrooms first and use Roma tomatoes instead of beefsteak if you’re going to use fresh tomatoes. Fry up your bacon and brown your sausages before you start building your pies

For our party we used anchovies, basil, black olives, green onions, mushrooms, Italian sausage, kalamata olives, pepperoni, pesto, roasted garlic cloves, sautéed onions, smokies, spinach, sun-dried tomatoes, tomato paste seasoned with oregano and basil, and lots of cheese: cheddar, feta, mozzarella, and provolone. Everything was chopped, shredded, sautéed or sliced and put into bowls before the guests arrived.

You don’t need any special equipment to make pizzas. If you have a pizza stone and a peel, your crusts might be a bit crisper, but you can make a delicious pie on a baking sheet as well.

When guests arrive, divide the dough into as many balls as there will be pies and start spreading the first one out. You can use a rolling pin but half the fun is stretching the dough out by hand. The thick and thin sections that result from hand-forming give the crust more interest and flavor. If you’re feeling daring, try twirling one around on your knuckles.

When the dough is roughly 12 inches in diameter, place it on a baking sheet or a cornmeal-coated peal and start piling on the toppings. This is when the fun really starts. I like to stare into all the bowls of toppings and try to imagine what the different combinations will taste like (but not for too long, I want to get the thing in the oven so I can have a real bite). There are no rules. You can put the cheese down first and top it with a sauce. You can arrange items neatly or just toss them on. You don’t even need to add cheese. Give everyone a chance to build their own pizza and enjoy the results.

When the first pizza is ready, place it in the well pre-heated oven until the cheese and crust are golden brown (about 10-12 minutes). In the meantime, start building another one. We eat them as they come out of the oven, slicing them into thin slices so we can taste each pie. You could have a more formal affair where you baked a couple at a time and actually sat down at the table to eat, but I love to stand around the counter, building one pizza while eating a piping hot slice of the one that just came out of the oven.

By the time the last pizza is done, your kitchen will bit a bit of a mess, everyone will be full but still eating, and your house will be nice and warm. And wasn’t that the whole point.

Vicki Reich just finished the leftovers from last weekend’s pizza-making extravaganza. She and Jon made six pizzas for six people and stuffed themselves. She’s well fueled to go out and shovel more snow. She can be reached at wordomouth@yahoo.com

Pizza Dough (adapted from Dough by Richard Bertinet

Makes 3 pizzas (9-11 inch diameter)

1 package instant yeast

18 oz. all purpose flour (approx. 3 ¾ c.)

2 t. salt

2 fl. oz. olive oil

12 fl. oz. water

Preheat oven to 475F. Mix flour and yeast together in a bowl then add remaining ingredients and mix until well combined. Scrape dough out of bowl onto work surface and knead until the dough is smooth and elastic (5-10 minutes). It will be a bit sticky. Add more flour judiciously; you want the dough to remain moist. Form the dough into a ball and place it in a lightly floured bowl and cover with a lint-free cloth. Let rise for one hour.

Turn the dough out onto the work surface again and cut into 3 equal piece and form these into balls. Cover with cloth and let rest for 10 minutes.

Working one at a time, flatten each ball into a disc and start to stretch the dough out into a larger circle. You can do this whatever way works for you; press it out with your fingers or the heel of your hand, lift it up by the edge and let it stretch down while moving your hands around the edge, drape it over the tops of your knuckles and gently stretch it out. As a last resort, you can use a rolling pin. When the dough starts to fight you and keeps springing back, let it rest for a minute or two and start stretching again to the desired thickness, keeping the edge a bit thicker than the center. Now it’s ready for toppings.