Pizza nights are awesome parties. Whether it’s your family or a neighborhood gathering, pizza nights require very little prep work and are constant sources of conversation, jokes, and banter. Have friends bring beer or wine or an Italian soda like San Pellegrino or Chinotto, and you’ve got a memorable evening!

Any quick google search will turn up how to make a pizza. But I want you to know not only how to make an exceptional pizza, but how to create a festive evening, from crust to toppings, as it were. And how to manage the pace of pizzas being made, going in, coming out, cooling, etc.

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What you’ll need for a Pizza Night

A pizza stone. Can you make pizza without it? Surely! But your pizza will be better with it, and they aren’t expensive. This pizza stone I use from Amazon costs about $30.00. Stones come in different shapes which may actually make baking multiple pizzas at the same time possible, but I haven’t used them.
A pizza peel. You’ll need this to be able to easily slide your pizzas in and out of the oven. The simple one I use is less than $20.00 (click here for link).
Parchment paper. I prefer using cornmeal when there’s just a few of us, but it does have a tendency to burn so if you are new to pizza making, or making pizza for a crowd, I recommend parchment paper to prepare the pizzas on before sliding them, stick-free, onto the pizza stone.
An oven that gets HOT, preferably 550 degrees and has a broiler with 8 inches of space between the broiler unit and the rack you’ll cook the pizzzas.

The Recipes

The crust

This recipe comes straight from King-Arthur flour, I can accept no commendation. I’ve used all sorts of pizza recipes over the years, and this is my favorite. Others require too much kneading, too much fridge space, or too much active time. This pizza crust cooks up crisp and bubbly with full flavor thanks to its long rise.

For two pizzas (see note under recipe for increasing amount) combine
- 250 grams (or 2 cups plus 1 Tablespoon) of all-purpose flour
- 1/8 teaspoon of active dry yeast or instant yeast
- 1/2 teaspoon of sugar
- 1 1/4 teaspoons salt (1.25 teaspoons, in case decimals are easier to read on your device)
- 185 grams of lukewarm water (3/4 cup plus one tablespoon)
Let dough rise on the countertop for 24 hours
Place your oven rack in the center of the oven, at least 8 inches from broiler, and heat to 550 if possible. At least 500. Once the oven hits temperature, allow stone to stay in for 30 minutes so it gets fully preheated.
While oven is heating—remove dough from its container. Knead a few times on a floured surface.
Divide the dough in half (or quarters if you’ve doubled it… if you have kids at the party, you can cut each doubled ball into 5). Working with one piece of dough at a time, use a bowl scraper to transfer it to a well-floured surface. Stretch and fold it, as directed by King Arthur flour, there are pictures here to guide you if you’re confused: holding onto the dough at both ends, pull one end away from the other, then fold it back onto itself. Repeat on the other side. The dough will likely be sticky — don't worry about it looking neat as you fold. Be sure to keep your hands floured as you work.
Repeat this series of folds with the other side of the dough, then gently pull the ends of the dough towards the middle of the dough, and turn it over. Using your fingers, pull the dough under itself until the top is smooth, and the seams have been worked into the bottom of the dough (see that link above for visual guidance).
Place ball of dough seam-side down in a floured bowl.
Repeat with each piece of dough, lining the dough up on the counter in order of when you put it in the bowl, so that the first bowl reached for is the one that has rested the longest.
Cover the bowls with kitchen towels and rest about 45 minutes to an hour in a warm spot (i.e. avoid drafts and kitchen cold spots).
Direct your guests to, in shifts of just a couple of pizzaiolos at a time, scoop the dough onto a round of floured parchment, using care to keep the dough in as round a shape as possible for easier stretching. If your dough feels wet, use a generous dusting of flour on top. For a dough that feels drier, use less flour.
Using your fingertips, gently depress the dough, being careful not to touch the outer edge of the crust. This step is important — leaving the circumference untouched at this stage will result in a beautiful bubbly outer crust, post-bake. This was news to me!
Again, using care to not touch the outermost edge of the crust, lift the pizza from the floured parchment and use your knuckles (take off your rings!) to gently stretch the dough. If the dough is at all sticky, use more flour. Use two hands at once to gently move the dough in a circle, allowing gravity to perform the stretch. Pulling or pushing will stretch the center more than the edges, do use gravity to stretch the dough. If you find your dough is difficult to stretch, set it down on a floured surface for 5 to 10 minutes to allow the gluten to relax.
Once the crust is 10-12 inches across (organic shapes should be prized!), place it again on the parchment paper. Cut the parchment to fit the pizza, as the excess will burn.
Time for topping! (more on that below).
Turn on broiler (only if you can broil from the top), then use the pizza peel to slide a pizza on its parchment onto the hot stone.
Bake about 7 minutes, until bubbly and a little charred and the cheese is well melted.
Remove from oven to a plate or a cutting board (depending on how it will be eaten, more on that below).
Slide in another pizza!

Notes:

The recipe makes two pizzas. So you’ll need to double it for four pizzas. Don’t more than double it, or the proportions get out-of-whack. This means for more than four pizzas, you’ll need to make batch after batch, which is why it’s so good that each batch takes just a few minutes!
I find it much easier to use a scale to bake. Put an empty bowl on the scale, zero it, then pour in your flour, zero it, add your dry ingredients, zero it, add your water. Stir. Done!
If you have the fridge space, you can make the crust days ahead and put in the fridge after its 24 hour rise to get even more flavorful. I just never have that much room in my fridge, especially before a party. You can fridge it for up to six days, just make sure you get it to room temperature before continuing with shaping.
I let my dough rise in these proofing containers, as they store easily on the counter and the refrigerator. Not required, you can use bowls.
The pizzas will be more authentic and crisp if you brush oil all over the crust, slip in under the broiler for a few minutes, then bring it out, add your toppings, then put it back in. But with lots of pizzas, that’s overly complicated and fussy. So if you can’t, and your pizzas are a touch soggy, call it Naples style.

The sauce

Take one can of whole Italian tomatoes for every 4 pizzas you’ll be making. Drain the juice out of the can, and place the tomatoes into a blender. Blend until smooth.
For each can of tomatoes, heat a tablespoon of olive oil, add one clove of minced garlic and one small pinch of red pepper flakes (both to taste). As soon as the garlic smells good, and before it browns, add the tomatoes to the pot, with a hefty pinch of oregano (you don’t want it to taste like oregano necessarily, you’re looking to soften the brashness of the tomatoes). Also add a teaspoon of salt.
Bring to boil, then reduce to simmer for 20-30 minutes, adjusting the seasoning as you go. You aren’t aiming to reduce the tomatoes very much at all, so don’t overcook or you’ll boil off the freshness. You just want the flavors to marry.
Put aside.

recipe and ideas for authentic pizza night

Prepare for the Pizza Night

Invite people, have them bring things to make your life easier! Salad, drinks, dessert…whatever!
Make the crust, finish in the refrigerator if that suits your timeline better.
Heat the oven an hour before guests arrive.
Make the sauce.
Prepare the toppings (more on that topic below).
Cut out parchment rounds about a foot round.
Create enough space for mingling around the work station, which should include a place for one or two pizzaiolos to work, with sauce and toppings at the ready. Also have a board at the ready for cooling the finished pizzas, and cutting if people want to eat their pizzas sliced, rather than Italian-style, with a knife and fork.
Put on some Italian music (here’s my daughter’s Italian playlist on Spotify if that helps! Mostly modern).
Directions for Your Pizzaiolos

Gather, mingle, get drinks (Is it summer? How about a spritz???)
When ready (no hurry, the dough can rest, and stone can rest, no stress!), have one or two people take a bowl of dough and begin making crust according to directions. You may want to model it for them, but also assure them that even if they blow it, even if they push and pull their dough, even if the dough tears, it will still be fabulous pizza. But it will puff up quite a bit, so stretch it as much as they reasonably can.
Trim the parchment to fit the pizza.
Sauce lightly, sprinkle cheese (less is more here, as too much gets gummy and soggy).
Time for toppings! (more below)
Slide a finished pizza into the oven, any pizzas finished afterwards can wait patiently on their parchment circles.
When pizza is good and bubbly, remove to a board. If you cut it too soon, the cheese won’t be “set”. Or, if you can convince your guest to eat the pizza with a knife and fork, slide it onto a plate and basta!
Slide the waiting pizza in.
People can sit to eat, or stand, or whatever. There’s so much flexibility!
Once all pizzas are made and eaten, move onto dessert.

Toppings for Pizza

Anything goes! When it’s just our family, I use this as an opportunity to clean out the fridge. I’ve put out egg roll filling, broccoli, odds and ends of cheeses, leftover meat, sriracha, a nubbin of salami, the last pickle. So when I say anything goes, I’m not playing.

But some standards: You’ll want to have out:

the sauce you made
a bowl of olive oil and a brush (even if you don’t do the pre-baking of crusts, some people like oiling the edges of their pizzas)
a bowl of oregano and one of red pepper flakes
grated mozzarella, or a mix of cheeses that melt well (I typically don’t use fresh mozzarella because it’s so wet, unless I’m going for that)

Direct your guests to oil their crust if they’d like, then put a light napping of sauce, then a sprinkle of cheese (to preference, more does make it soggy), then any toppings they’d like.

The following toppings inspired by L’Orlando Furioso, our favorite pizza joint in Spello:

montanara: gorgonzola and pear (you might see this some places as a white pizza, but L’Orlando does it as a red pizza, with tomato sauce, and I prefer that).
mediterranea: tuna (oil-packed), black olives, chopped sweet onions
anchovy, capers, olives, red pepper flakes
crack an egg on top before it goes in the oven
make a plain pizza, then top with handfuls of peppery arugula and earthy shaved parmesan
make a plain pizza, then top with prosciutto or speck

Other toppings we enjoy, fun to combine for some creative options (my pizzas are usually divided into crazy neighborhoods of flavors, because I can’t ever decide)

basil leaves
brie (or fontina), delicious with mushrooms
clams (canned is fine) sauteed with garlic and parsley
sausage, love it with mushrooms
mushroom, raw and sliced or canned or sauteed with garlic
spinach
ricotta (great with greens)
artichoke hearts
red onions
pesto (foolproof recipe here)
avocado (delicious with goat cheese or feta)
okay fine, pineapple, if you must
shrimp
chopped red peppers
smoked salmon (another ingredient that works better when added in finishing)
slices of fried or roasted eggplant
thin slices of raw potato, tossed with olive oil (cooks when the pizza bakes)

Buon Appetito!

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