How to Host a Pizza Party at Home

Cooking three pizzas for the family is one thing. Making enough for a garden full of people is another, and the first time you do it the timing and the numbers can feel like the hard part. They are not, as long as you prepare properly. I hosted a pizza party at my parents' again this year, nine guests round the table, and I did all the cooking on my Woody Oven. This is how I did it, and what I would tell anyone stepping up from feeding the immediate family to feeding a crowd.

Contents

• 🥘 Introduction
• TLDR; prep is key.
• Pizza Dough
• 🍕 Toppings
• 👪 Cooking & Serving pizza for a crowd
• Eating outside in the UK
• Pizza Party FAQ
• Would we do it again?
• Your Comments

🥘 Introduction

In July we had some nice weather here in the UK (for a few days anyway) and we called that 'Summer'. On one of these days we were lucky enough to have some sun forecast and so we decided that would be the day for the party. The agreement was that I'd make the pizzas if parents bought the toppings. They were hosting too so all seems fair.

TLDR; prep is key.

If you only read one section, read this. Make the dough a day or two ahead so it is one less job on the day. Allow roughly one dough ball per adult, plus a couple spare for garlic bread and second helpings. Prep and lay out all your toppings before you light the oven. Cook one pizza at a time and keep the oven hot between bakes. And do not forget the peel, the semolina and a proper pizza wheel cutter.

Pizza oven discussion

The plan was for a group of 10 to descend on my parents house (invited of course) and eat pizza. However the pizza would be made by me. We did this last year and doing it again this year. Cooking again on my Woody Pizza Oven that I'd bought previously.

If you are looking for pizza dough options and detailed instructions how to make it, try my pizza dough calculator. This offers all weights and measures to get a great dough.

After plenty of discussions with my dad about gas attachments we came up with a plan that we'd use his caravan propane gas and my Woody Oven gas attachment. All set for a pizza party now.

Removing the clip and disconnecting the hose allowed us to connect to the gas regulator for the propane tank. This worked a treat (once I remembered that the screw thread on a propane tank has a reverse thread).

We have an oven, we have gas. We're ready to go.

Pizza Dough

How much dough do you need?

For nine guests I made ten dough balls at 270g each. That gave eight pizzas and two garlic pizza breads. Everyone was full and there was a little left over, so ten balls for nine adults was slightly generous, which is where you want to be. Nobody remembers a party where they ran of food and had a good time.

As a rule, allow about one ball per adult and a couple of spare. Adjust down for younger children, or up if you know your lot eat well. It is better to have dough left over, because a spare ball becomes a garlic bread or more garlic dough balls, than to be short.

Make the dough ahead

The single biggest thing that makes a pizza party manageable is making the dough in advance. I use a slow 48 hour dough, so I made it on the Friday for the Sunday. I also tested the recipe the week before and tweaked it, because the first batch was not active enough. You do not have to go that far, but for a crowd it is worth knowing your dough works before the day rather than finding out in front of guests.

I mixed two batches in my Kenwood kMix and brought them together, then left the combined dough about an hour and a quarter until it had risen slightly. Then I split it into ten balls of 270g each, six in a 40x30cm proving tray and four in individual pots with lids. Making it ahead means that on the day, the dough is the one big job already done.

I would consider a bigger mixer for next time. It is much easier to do one lot of dough in one go that making separate batches and bringing them together afterwards. This Ooni Halo Pro is looking more and more like a possible next purchase for me!

The recipe below is the scaled batch I made for this party. For the base method and a smaller everyday quantity, see my pizza dough recipe.

Party pizza dough (makes 10 balls at 270g)

• 1068g Shipton Mill 00 Italian flour
• 1.05 litres water
• ½ teaspoon Allinsons fast action yeast
• 40g Saxa table salt
• 9g brown sugar
• 3g malt powder
• 2 tablespoon Olive oil
• Semolina flour for dusting (about 120g)

Getting the dough there (if hosting away from home)

Because I was cooking at my parents' rather than at home, the dough had to travel. I packed the car at half past eleven on the Sunday and drove the hour over. The four doughs I would use later went in a cool bag to slow them down from over proofing. The six I would use first went in the boot unchilled, so they were coming up to room temperature and ready to stretch by the time we arrived.

If you are hosting at your own place you can skip the drive, but the principle still holds. The dough you cook first wants to be at room temperature so it stretches easily. The dough for later is better kept cool so it does not overprove while you work through the batch. Consider a cool box of some form to transport more doughs.

The kit you must not forget

These are the things that are easy to leave behind because they are not in a normal kitchen drawer.

• Pizza peel. For getting pizzas in and out of the oven. If you are unsure which to buy, I have written about wood versus metal peels. A turning peel is useful too, but not essential if travelling (to save space).
• Semolina flour. For dusting the peel and your work surface so the dough slides off cleanly. Use a different flour from the one in your dough so it does not get absorbed. Rice flour or gram (chickpea) flour work if you cannot get semolina. I bring my own, as the type I like is not always easy to find in a supermarket. (This Natco flour is my preference for anyone interested.)
• Passata. A good sauce makes the difference. Mutti is my favourite, or make your own.
• Fresh herbs. Dried will do, but fresh basil in particular lifts a pizza.
• A proper pizza cutter. More on this below, because I learned my lesson this year.
• A board to slice on. Maybe also a board to serve on. We used plates though.
• Food covers. Net or mesh covers if you are eating outside.

🍕 Toppings

Sort the toppings before you light the oven. Sounds simple, but a selection of chopped toppings you can pick from is so much easier when putting pizza together.

Mozzarella is the obvious base cheese. You can bulk it out with grated cheddar. Have meats prepared too. Beyond that, the important part is having everything prepped, sliced and laid out before you start cooking, because once the oven is going you will not have time to stop and chop.

Nevertheless we had a fantastic array of pizza topping choices and everyone was able to custom make their pizza.

For a pizza party it is a good idea to have more or less an equal split of meat vs vegetarian options for toppings. We opted for onion, pepper, sweetcorn and also Quorn vegan pepperoni slices (which were actually quite nice!) along with chicken and regular pepperoni so we could cater for all needs.

👪 Cooking & Serving pizza for a crowd

The rhythm is simple once you find it. Stretch and top one pizza, cook it, slice it, put it out, and start the next one while people eat. Each pizza took about 60 seconds in the Woody Oven.

Keep the oven hot between bakes by keeping the door on. If you leave it open between pizzas you lose heat, and the next one takes longer and cooks less evenly (if you have a pizza oven with a door.)

I served family style, cutting each pizza on a board and putting it out on the dining table for people to grab what they fancied. That way everyone gets to try things they would never order in a shop, which is half the point of doing it yourself.

The other honest lesson: I forgot my metal pizza cutter and had to make do with a plastic rolling slicer. It did the job, but nowhere near as cleanly, so a good metal cutter is now top of my kit list. Do not skimp on the cutter or the board.

Eating outside in the UK

If you are outdoors, plan for British weather and British wildlife. A gazebo kept the sun off, and would have coped with rain (we had it up to keep the sun off, honest). Wasps and flies are the real nuisance once food is out, so net or mesh food covers over the table make a genuine difference. Alternatively there are now these new fan style fly swatters which I've seen about. Reviews look good but I've never tried them.

Pizza Party FAQ

Would we do it again?

Yes, again and again. This is year two. Everyone had a great time. People were able to try pizzas they'd never normally order in a shop and hopefully this would let them extend their palate too. There was plenty to go around and with some left overs, we could wrap up in some foil and share amongst the group to take home.