With school out and kids at home for the summer, you can be ready when hunger or boredom strikes with this DIY cooking project: pizza making!
We asked Neil Blazin, owner and co-founder of Driftwood Oven, and his family to show us how it’s done. “It’s a great activity, especially for kids, because they just love getting messy. There’s flour everywhere, the dough is fun to play with, and even if they’re not making beautiful pizzas, it’s fun to get kids in the kitchen doing activities. My kids love it,” he says.
Make memories and keep kids engaged with lots of hands-on possibilities: Scooping and dumping flour, kneading the dough, swirling the sauce, sprinkling cheese, arranging toppings, and drizzling olive oil!
With premade ingredients you only need about an hour, but you can choose your own adventure depending on how much time you have.
Pick up a 16” dough ball for $5 from Driftwood Oven at 3615 Butler Street in Lawrenceville.
Or you can start from scratch and make a summer day of it. Neil Blazin’s recipe for Basic Sourdough Pizza Crust is a great way to start your own pizza party at home! Prepare the dough in the morning, let it proof during the day, then bake it up in the evening. You can also make your own sauce. Grab a can of whole tomatoes, season them, and “buzz them up” with an immersion blender. Neil shares his Simple Pizza Sauce recipe with TABLE readers.
Get ready for multiple summer bakeoffs by making a big batch of dough and freezing a few portions. Plus, “There’s less mess to clean up,” notes Blazin.
Set your space with essential tools, including: an aluminum or wooden pizza peel, cutter, and a microplane to shave parmesan cheese on the finished pie.
Kids can let their creativity shine when forming the dough: “They’ll say, ‘This one looks like an oval.’ ‘This one looks like a heart.’ They’re cool with making it however they see it.”
Sicilian-style pan pizza is the most at-home friendly, says Blazin. Simply press the prepared dough into a greased pan and let it proof while you ready the other ingredients.
When it comes to toppings, playing with food is totally acceptable. The kids will love making patterns and shapes, like smiley faces. Best of all, even the pickiest eater will be satisfied! Kids may want to keep it simple with cheese or pepperoni, while parents can mix it up.
Blazin’s advice? “Just have fun with it. Making food isn’t a perfect thing. It’s really about the collaboration. One of the things I love most about pizza is that it’s generally always shared.”
Story by Nicole Barley / Photography by Laura Petrilla / Recipes by Neil Blazin, Driftwood Oven
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