Pizza Night

Always the right answer. Always!

This past Saturday, my friend-neighbor-collaborator Jodi and her family came over to celebrate the launch our new project Like Magic. Initially, it was just going to be Jodi and her husband, Fred, but then, after some careful choreography (“If my kid is into it, maybe yours will be? I’ll ask, then you ask, then we’ll compare notes?”) we looped in all the teenagers — her two boys and Abby, my high school senior. This is something I’ve vowed to do more of lately. When our girls were younger, we always brought them along to friends’ houses for dinner and the reverse was true, too: We didn’t even have to specify whether or not kids were invited to our house, it was just assumed. But then all our grade schoolers grew up and — shocker — opted to hang out with their friends instead of listening to a bunch of fogies who’ve never heard of Sza discuss parking problems in town or the best un-oaky Chardonnay. It’s what is supposed to happen, everyone says, and I understand this, but it doesn’t mean it doesn’t bum me out, especially since teenagers bring such a distinct and fun energy to the table.

So I was thrilled that we somehow convinced all the kids to come — a thrill quickly eclipsed by a specific, familiar terror, because when boys are in the equation, I’m always anxious that I’m not going to have enough food. So what could I make that would feed an army, be eaten with hands (or minimal utensils) around a fire pit, and ideally be mostly prepared ahead of time?

I landed on a strange and exotic food I’ve discovered called pizza.

Specifically: my go-to potato-cheddar (shown above), an Asparagus Lemon and Spring Cream and a safe, satisfying tomato-cheese-basil. I basically followed the plan in this old post, swapping out the kale and pickled onion pizza for the asparagus. (Either menu would work, of course.) I love how you can make or assemble all of these ahead of time, so you just have to shove them in a hot oven 15 minutes before you want to eat.

I realize I’ve written about this Potato-Cheddar Pizza a thousand times, but you’ll be happy to know that I’ve finally given the recipe its own page on Dinner: A Love Story. (I hadn’t realized until I started writing the recipe that it’s evolved so much over the years.) Note: The best thing about this pizza is that it’s just as good at room temperature, so you can bake it an hour or two ahead of time.

Asparagus-Lemon Pizza with Spring Cream This one is from Joe Beddia’s Pizza Camp and it added the right hit of green and seasonality to the spread.

A tomato-cheese pie is not going to win me any James Beard Awards, but when kids are coming over, I like to have it in the mix as a sort of crutch. Instructions for this are in the Pizza Party post if you need it, but two things to keep in mind: Use uncooked canned tomatoes for the sauce (it’s so much brighter that way) and use a mix of shredded low-moisture mozzarella and torn pieces of the fresh stuff for optimum meltability.

P.S. Anyone following our recent obsession with Carvel cakes on Like Magic will appreciate the cake Fred brought for us. How perfect is that?

Have a good week, everyone!

Housekeeping

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