Wood Fired Pizza Oven

I’m so excited to be writing this post today because I can finally share with all of you the magic that is my dad’s wood fired pizza oven. Making, cooking, and eating pizza fresh from a hand built wood fired pizza oven is something that some may consider a once-in-a-lifetime experience, but I have the good fortune of calling a regular occurrence. My dad was gracious enough to let my brother and I invite some friends to his house upstate this past weekend to enjoy his incredible pizza oven – even after an unfortunate incident involving him accidentally chainsawing through a bees nest caused his hand to blow up to comical proportions from a bee sting. But even in his bee-wounded state, he still lived up to his reputation as a master pizza chef. And while he was working hard at making pizzas, I was snapping picture after picture with the hopes of sharing with you even just a glimmer of this truly unforgettable experience.

This wood fired pizza oven was my dad’s brain child for years before it ever came to fruition. It was something that he had talked about building ever since I can remember, and something that we even joked about not actually happening considering how many ideas for crazy projects my dad has floating around in his brain. But even as other ideas came and went – some partially finished such as a third bathroom in his house, and others still not even started like the live-in treehouse he wants to build in the backyard – the thought of his very own wood fired pizza oven in his backyard was one than never escaped my dad. Even once he finally began to truly work on it, it still took around four years for him to fully complete it. You see, my dad hand crafted almost every piece of this project, which is more than just a wood fired pizza oven; it’s a whole patio dedicated to the art of making pizza.

Over the years, my dad mixed bag after bag of cement to pour the columns that surround the concrete patio. He built each wooden beam and trussed them to hold up the corrugated metal roof. And he hand laid each individual stone and brick that make up the base of the oven itself. He did everything himself and he did it the way that he had imagined it in his head, pouring not only his blood sweat and tears but also his heart and soul into this project. For that, I really do admire him. Not only because he has shown me that with hard work and your own two hands you really can bring life to even the craziest of ideas, but also because he has built something that brings people together. Almost every weekend of the summer you can find friends and family gathered around the concrete bar top – also built by my dad of course – that is the center of the pizza patio, laughing, telling stories, drinking, and of course eating. And there is no doubt in my mind that my dad has built something that not only creates incredible food, but also incredible memories.

 

Over the past few years of having a wood fired pizza oven, we have come up with some pretty fantastic pizza recipes that go far beyond the simple margarita pizza. I am super excited to share with you some of those recipes, like my person favorite “potato pie,” or a pizza decked out with zucchini, fresh ricotta, and toasted pine nuts. But for this post I want to share with you some gorgeous photos of the pizza and the oven itself. Who knows, maybe you’ll be inspired to go out and build your own wood fired pizza oven!

 

 

The pizza patio is home to all sorts of little touches that I love. Little feet for flower pots branded with a “DE ROMA, MADE IN ITALY” stamp sit perched on the railing. Wine boxes that my dad transformed into storage using a set of hinges hold paper plates and napkins. Flowers grow from used olive oil tins – we go through a lot of olive oil at our house. A cast iron skillet hangs along side a rusty bottle opener and paint scraper used for who-knows-what. Pizza essentials are lined up at the bar: olive oil, oregano, “peperoncini” hot pepper from Italy, and of course “alici” – anchovies. An old tomato can used to store silverware sits alongside fresh veggies drying in the dish rack. Peeled garlic waits in pans used for proofing dough, ready to be roasted in the oven.

 

 

 

Part of what makes pizza from a wood fired pizza oven so incredible and unique when compared to pizza that we’re used to seeing is the oven’s ability to reach incredibly high temperatures. Usually my dad will wait until the oven gets to eight or nine hundred degrees before he’s ready to make a pizza. At this temperature, the pizza only takes about 90 seconds to cook, and each and every time there is a little char edges of each pie and spots of black on the bottom. I know what you may be thinking: it sounds like it’s burnt. But this slight char actually adds an incredible depth of flavor to the pizza, and the perfect element of smokiness and slight bitterness that offsets the sweet tomato sauce. In fact, charring is thought of by some as one of the key elements of a traditional Neapolitan style pizza.

 

 

 

 

 

The wood fired pizza oven is not only fantastic for making pizzas, but all sorts of other tasty treats as well! Once we were done with pizzas for the day and the oven temperature started to come down to that of a normal oven, my dad and his girlfriend Nicole roasted a bevy of fresh vegetables like cherry tomatoes, eggplant, and zucchini. They use the veggies all week long to throw into pastas and salads for quick weeknight meals. My dad also baked a perfectly crusty whole wheat bread in a cast iron dutch oven, and in the past I’ve known him to roast whole pork loins or even caramelize peaches or apples in the oven. But one of my favorite non-pizza treats to come out of the wood fired pizza oven this weekend was caramelized bananas roasted with brown sugar, peanuts, and a dash of whisky – Nicole’s idea. It was the perfect dessert, served dripping over vanilla ice cream.