Pizza Party!

After 3 months of trial and error resulting in some pizza crusts that resembled charcoal, M and I have reached a level of competence with our gas-fired pizza oven. During our first few attempts, we didn't think that we would ever be "ready for primetime" to serve our creations to friends. However, last weekend after hosting pizza parties on both Friday and Saturday with 9 people (including us) on each night, we judge by the enthusiastic eating of 20 pizzas that we are producing a delicious product.

I'm not sure what prompted M to look for a pizza oven. We really enjoy eating pizza, the crispy crust, rich tomato sauce, gooey cheese. Yum, my tastebuds are tingling just thinking about it. Take-out pizza isn't readily available around here. We have friends who are chefs with a pop-up restaurant that live about a 15 minute drive away (on a pot-holed gravel road) who make great pizza but you have to order a day or 2 in advance. There's an Italian restaurant called La Piña that is 7.5 miles (12 kms) away but it takes almost an hour to drive there. Yes 1 hour to drive 7 miles. That's how bad the road is! So we don't spontaneously jump in the car to satisfy an urge for pizza. Our only pizza eating in Costa Rica was during our lengthy stays in San José when I was recovering from surgery. M bought a few pre-made pizzas from PriceSmart (the Central American version of Costco) and dressed them with extra toppings. We eagerly devoured them but the crusts are too thick and chewy for our taste. M and I prefer crusts that almost snap like a cracker.

Back in the fall, M came across information about Ooni Pizza ovens. After watching several YouTube videos and doing some research, he decided on the gas-fired Koda model. Since it was close to Christmas and my Mom wanted to get us a gift, she generously offered to buy it for us. We were so excited to get started and watched many YT videos about making pizza dough, sauce, prepping toppings etc. Though our enthusiasm was dampened when the company notified M that the units were back-ordered with an expected ship date of March 2021. We had to wait 4 months but Ooni has an engaging Customer Relationship Management program and sent a steady stream of notifications about the status of our order. We felt confident that the oven would eventually arrive. In the meantime, the program sent tips and hints about creating the perfect pizza which we studied intently. With all this information, we were somewhat over-confident that our very first pizza would emerge from the oven looking and tasting like perfection. Haha!

As predicted the oven arrived at the end of March and M purchased another propane tank just for the pizza oven. Propane tanks here are about 30% bigger than a typical North American gas BBQ tank and we already had 2 tanks for our kitchen stove: one hooked up and one in reserve. Cooking a lot on with the stove (4 gas burners and oven), a tank lasts about 3 months. Then we take the empty to the town at the border to exchange. Once the Ooni oven was set up with its tank and regulator, we could barely contain our excitement on the first night. M had ordered online the Ooni recommended pizza piel, a metal paddle with a long handle for sliding the pizza in and out of the oven. I had dough ready to lay out, the homemade tomato sauce, grated cheese and an array of toppings. In all this prep, some very distance memories of the few months that I worked in a pizza kitchen when I was 18 came floating to the surface.

Our first challenge was to get the pizza to slide off the piel onto the pizza stone inside the oven. They make it look soooo easy in the videos. The first few attempts and the pizza came out folded over, more like a calzone. Our chef friends gave us the helpful tip to pre-bake the crusts. The second challenge was how to cook the pizza to make it crispy but not a lump of charcoal. The temperature inside the oven goes up to 900F and the instructions said to put the pizza in for 15 seconds, pull it out, rotate 45 degrees and return to the oven and repeat until all 4 sides are exposed to the gas flames in the back of the oven. Well, we experienced more than a few "blackened" pizzas and not in the fancy, tasty culinary style of blackened. After a temperature adjustment down to 650F and more experience with the oven, the pizzas are emerging with a cheesy melted top and toasted, thin crusts.

Our downstairs terrace is about 700 sf and open on three sides allowing lots of room for people, patio chairs, the pizza oven and prep tables. I prep toppings like red onions, red pepper, chorizo, black olives, grated cheese and our friends bring their favorite toppings like old-style prosciutto made in a small town Italian-settled town in the nearby mountains. I set the toppings out on the prep table and as I spread the tomato sauce on the crusts, everyone throws in their topping requests. Sometimes people make their own pizzas. It's an interactive dining experience.

Even Pinta gets involved. She picks the human that seems to be the softest touch and sits directly in front of them until they offer her a "pizza bone," the dry outer edge of the crust. Needless to say, Pinta loves pizza night!

Now that we have achieved this favorite take-out dish, all I need is a 1000 BTU gas burner ring, a giant wok and I can cook my favorite stir-fry Chinese dishes.