Super Bowl Pizza Party

Homemade pizza is easy and fun to serve during a Super Bowl party. Before everyone arrives, mix up a big batch of dough (or better yet buy some from your local bakery or pizzeria), assemble your favorite toppings ---various meats, cheeses, vegetables, fresh basil --- whatever you like. When it’s time to eat, encourage everyone toss the dough high in the air like the pizza man does at the pizzeria before assembling their custom made pie and popping it in the oven. The easy part is your guests do the cooking. 

Here’s a recipe for a basic pizza sauce that is sure to please and is far superior to commercial sauces. It’s a snap to make and can be prepared in advance and frozen.

To accompany the pizzas, serve a big green salad and a simple lemon vinaigrette of three parts extra virgin olive oil to one part fresh lemon juice as the dressing. Your guests can choose additional ingredients for their salad from the cheeses and vegetables you have on the pizza bar. Purchase some big fat cookies, such as chocolate chip or oatmeal raisin, from the bakery and you have dessert. 

I’ve included a recipe for my favorite pizza, the simple Margherita with mozzarella, tomatoes and basil. That particular pizza has some history to it. Queen Margherita, while visiting in Naples in 1889, grew tired of fancy French fare and wanted to try what the common people ate. The owner of the best pizzeria in Napes, Raffaele Esposito, was summoned to prepare three pizzas for her highness. His mozzarella version was her favorite, so he named it Pizza Margherita in her honor. Many people believe that particular pizza was invented for Queen Margherita, but records indicate that pizza with mozzarella, tomato and basil, the colors of the Italian flag, was eaten in Naples forty years before she sampled it. 

Basic Pizza Sauce

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 cup finely chopped yellow onions

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

2 cans (28 oz. each) drained & crushed Italian peeled tomatoes

4 tablespoons tomato paste

3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon dried basil

Pinch of ground allspice

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Pinch of hot red pepper flakes

2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian flat leaf parsley

Heat olive oil in a medium size non-stick skillet. Add onions and cook over low heat to wilt. Add garlic and cook one minute more. Add remaining ingredients, except parsley. Stir well, cover and simmer over low heat for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove cover, add parsley and simmer additional 15 minutes or until fairly thick, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat, cool and refrigerate.

Yield: 4 cups, enough for four 12” pizzas. Can make ahead and freeze in one cup portions.

Assorted pizzas

Pizza Margherita 

Dough for 12” pizza

1 cup basic pizza sauce, recipe above

½ lb. Mozzarella cheese, grated

2 ripe tomatoes cut in ¼” dice
8 to 10 sliced black olives

8 whole fresh bail leaves

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil (optional)

Freshly ground black pepper

At least one half hour before cooking, preheat your oven to 500 degrees F. Shape pizza dough and place on a pan sprinkled with cornmeal. Spread pizza sauce on dough, leaving a 1” rim. Top with cheese, sprinkle with tomatoes and arrange basil on top. Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil. Sprinkle with freshly ground black pepper. Bake on bottom rack in oven until crust is golden, 15 to 20 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes before serving. 

Pizza with everything