We love pizza around here. Like a whole lot. We have a couple very favorite pizza spots in DC that I'm not sure we are going to be able to survive without.... those places will require their own post eventually. I've wanted to learn to make my own pizza forever, but have always been too intimidated to try. The idea of making the dough scared me, and I figured it would require tons of extra kitchen tools that I didn't want to buy.
Well, this weekend WW and I were craving a Friday pizza night and we decided that this time we would do it the homemade way, by God. I enlisted some help from my friends at smitten kitchen and the new york times, who convinced me it could be done, and got me over my fear of the homemade 'za. And guess what? Friday night we kicked "homemade pizza" off the bucket list... with a pizza party for two.
And I'm not kidding, it really is very easy! And so much fun.
I started my mission at the Thursday Farmers Market for some delicious tomatoes.
Then I swung by the Cowgirl Creamery cheese shop down the street. The delightful staff helped me select (and sample) a few different "pizza perfect" cheeses to take home.
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Seriously, how cute is this store?  While the sauce was doing this... I got to work on the dough. |
Shaping the dough and getting the clumps out was probably the hardest part.
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| Luckily, smittenkitchen had taught me this trick! |
Then, I covered and refrigerated the dough overnight to let it rise.
The next day it came out lookin' double the size, and pretty darn good.
Meanwhile, I put WW in charge of picking up toppings.
I'd say he did a pretty awesome job.
Friday night we set up a lil' pizza rolling station on WW's counter, and got to work.
We made the executive decision to have 4 different kinds of pizzas.
1) margherita (tomatoes + mozzarella + basil)
2) tomato sauce + mozzarella + sausage + green peppers + mushrooms
3) tomato sauce + pecorino + spicy pepperonis + mushrooms + oregano
4) pesto + 3 cheeses + mushrooms
We fired up the grill, and set up a handy little work station for toppings.
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| Topping station... For those without a yard. |
We slowly got the hang of grilling times and flipping the dough.
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| Grill master. |
(Pizza on the grill is definitely a two-person job.)
And they turned out delicious!!
With plenty of leftovers...
For a Saturday lunch.
Can't wait to do this again!
Recipes and Tips: