To make great pizza at home, there are a few hurdles to overcome. To begin with, you probably don't have a oven that reaches 800ºF—the ideal temperature for the crispy-chewy charred crust you get in a pizzeria. Then there's the matter of securingauthentic San Marzano tomatoesfor the most flavorful sauce, and the challenge of deciding whether you're afresh mozzarella or melty supermarket mozzarellaperson.
Luckily, my Epi colleague Kat Sacks has solved the first dilemma you'll no doubt face: The crust. With a food processor, the dough comes together in practically the blink of an eye, but if you don't have one, you can easily stir the whole thing together with a fork before you start kneading.
As for what to put on that crust and how to cook it, you have a few options. You could go with that ubiquitous summer staple,zucchini, plus thin slices of potato to up the carb factor, and pungent, melty fontina cheese. These mini pizzas are par-cooked in a cast-iron skillet—a technique perfected by my Epi teammate Sam Worley—and then finished on a sheet pan in the oven so that everyone can dig in all at once.
The next option is a classic that you've probably never heard of—unless you live in central New Jersey or came acrossthis pieceby Epi's Adina Steiman. The Trenton Tomato Pie layers crust, cheese, andthentomatoes and toppings instead of the more common crust, tomato sauce, cheese, toppings arrangement. The result is a tomato-forward pizza with a crust that's crispier than usual—achieved at home by stacking two sheet pans on top of each other and preheating them in an oven as high as the dial will allow.
If you're really serious about making pizza at home this summer, though, you might want to go with in theMatt Duckor directionand invest in aKettlePizza—an attachment that turns any standard charcoal grill into a blazing hot wood-fired pizza oven. After playing around with the device all summer, his ultimate recipe is a spicy-sweet take on the classic pairing of pepperoni and mushrooms. Just maybe make sure to invest in some good heat-proof gloves so that the only thing your charring in your backyard is the crust.
