Last night, Dan the Man and I hosted a pizza party.  Not the kind where you order out.  At this party, two other couples, one grandson, and Dan and I all made pizza from scratch. We had so much fun, and they were tasty to eat and easy to make.

In preparation, Dan the Man made pizza dough and portioned it into eight rounds.  He also made a homemade tomato sauce.  (You could certainly used purchased dough and sauce.)  I prepped the remainder of the toppings. We had raw onions, carmelized onions, black olives, roasted garlic, julienned yellow pepper, sliced mushrooms, cooked Italian sausage, turkey pepperoni, an assortment of condiments (sea salt, cracked pepper, garlic salt, and a hot spice mix) and a wide variety of cheeses (Parmesan, grated mozarella, fresh mozarella slices, goat, gorgonzola, and grated cheddar).

Dan put a baking stone into both of our double ovens and preheated them to 450 degrees.  When our company came, we enjoyed mojitos (with mint from my garden), beer, and a caprese salad that one of our guests brought.  She sprinkled it with some reduced balsamic vinegar.  Yum!

Once we were ready to start the pizzas, each of us spread out the dough onto a piece of parchment paper.  We then loaded the dough to our heart’s content. Each one was unique, just like our guests!

Dan the Man baked two or three at a time in the hot oven, lifting each piece of parchment paper with a pizza directly onto the baking stones.  The high heat helped the crusts become crisp and the cheese turn into its glorious ooey-gooey-ness.

When they were all baked, we cut them each into fourths and sampled.

Going …

Going …

Gone!  And they were delicious!!!