Entertaining Ideas
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Wine & Pizza Party
Need some help for a small get together of wine and pizza. Want to do the whole make your own pizza theme.....good dough ideas-store bought or recipes, good sauces?? Any creative tips for hors d'oeuvres as well to go along with "pizza theme". Thanks!
Re: Wine & Pizza Party
Trader Joe's has good pizza dough. I've also seen some at Whole Foods, though I prefer TJ's. They also have pizza sauce I've heard is good, though I don't think I've had it.
Toppings, you can do anything. Look at some pizza places and see their offerings to recreate like apples and blue cheese or something.
74 books read in 2011
Well, I think it depends on how many people you're having. Homemade dough would be good but it's a lot of work if you're having several people. Sometimes it can be finicky, so you might be better off with just getting store-bought.
As for toppings....I would go with some of the basic/common toppings like pepperoni, ham, sausage, peppers, onions, mushrooms, olives, pineapple, etc. Depending on how much further you want to go, you could give them the opportunity to make specialty pizzas. You could have marinara sauce, pesto and bbq sauce so people could do whatever they want. Additional toppings could be chicken, tomatoes, bacon, artichokes, blue cheese, etc. You can make it as simple or as elaborate as you want...it just depends on how much money you want to spend and how much work you want to make for yourself!
As for other things to serve....you could bruschetta, spinach/artichoke dip, caprese skewers, etc.
You could do an antipasto platter with meats, cheese, olives, etc. Also add some grapes, a good crusty bread with olive oil to dip, etc.
I do these all the time as a pot luck. I provide dough, sauce (usually regular, bbq, and olive oil), and cheese and then everyone brings toppings they like. I'll also usually make a big salad to go with it. We slice the pizzas into little squares and people just usually eat them as they come out of the oven. I typically get some dough from trader joe's but lately I've found some partially cooked crusts (like boboli but a different brand) and they worked well. They come in packs of two and have a whole wheat crust, which we like. It is so much easier to not start from completely raw dough!
If you have more than 8-10 people coming I would recommend borrowing a pizza stone or two (or a pan or two) from friends. Biggest problem is having enough pans to put dough on while you're creating once things start baking and the initial pans are hot.
Have fun! This a favorite amongst our crowd!
It's also great for weekends away with friends. We did on a ski trip of about 12 or so too!
I like that theme. Depending on how adventerous you/your guests are, you could try some "unique" gourmet toppings like: potato, bacon & onion, bbq chicken and shrimp w/sundried tomatoes, etc...
For starters, buffalo wings and crudite are what comes to mind to go with pizza...
Hi! I would test this out before inviting everyone over. My DH makes pizza for us (i prep) and it took a couple tries before he got the timing down. Here are our recs:
re: mushrooms, onions etc - we saute them first to sweat the water out of them.
re: dough - we have been using a brand called "Biretella's" whole wheat - though trader joe's is OK - just not quite as good.
re: cheese - put it on after cooking the pie for a while... to keep from burning
re: toppings - cooked bacon is the best!
re: pizza stone - we prefer the pans with the holes in them - will need to borrow some as the pp suggested. also use corn meal to keep dough from sticking...
re: hors d'oeuvres - would serve a caprese salad or antipast as pp suggested and italian ice or tartuffo for dessert.
re: pizza theme - i would either keep it very casual with red check table cloths, shakers of spices (red pepper flakes, oregano,, parmesan) jelly jars for wine glasses, like a pizzeria or more sem-formal with white napkins, gourmet condiments, black board restaurant decorations etc. it would be fun to mix in your "wedding" crystal with that concept
that's it for now. good luck and let us know how it goes. would love to see pictures. sorry for my sloppy typing