You might be wondering, what does The Wizard of Oz have to do with pizza? Well just keep reading and I’ll explain it all to you.. This past weekend was my granddaughter’s 4th birthday and a very special guest attended her party, it was Dorothy and she even brought her little dog Toto too!
She came complete with her sequined studded ruby red slippers! My granddaughter is a huge fan of The Wizard of Oz, she can tell you the whole story from beginning to end, sing all the songs with much enthusiasm , so it was no surprise that she wanted that to be the theme of her birthday party.
Dorothy even brought along her ipod so she would have background music to sing some songs with her. My granddaughter dressed in full Dorothy garb was mesmerized! The expressions on her face were priceless!
Here’s where the pizza comes in. My son and DIL hired a company called The Pizza Via, which is a wood-fired mobile brick oven that came directly to their home, set up was right in their driveway where they hand made Neapolitan style pizzas for everyone at the party.
Even the names of the pizzas went along with The Wizard of Oz theme. We had,“I’m Melting”- Cheese Pizza, Ruby Red Slipper-oni- Pepperoni Pizza, The Munchkin Guild- Sausage Pizza, Wicked Witch of the Westo’s- Pesto Pizza, The Cowardly Lion’s- BBQ Chicken Pizza, The Wizard’s-Spicy Hot Italian Beef Pizza, Auntie Em’s- Margherita Pizza, and a few others that were custom made.
The balls of dough were pre- prepped and ready to go, which were made with Caputo “00” imported flour.
Alex Ciciora is the Head Chef who’s earned certificates in Neapolitan and classic Italian pizza. This guy knows how to throw dough!
Anticipation was brewing as the pizzas were being assembled with the freshest of ingredients.
The wood fire was at the perfect temperature, 1,000 – degrees, it was time to start cooking. Each pizza only takes a mere 90 seconds to cook up.
Chef Alex was quickly cranking them out one by one. The smell in the driveway was out of this world between the aroma of smoky wood and all that dough and sauce cooking together!
The crust was perfect, delicate and crisp on the outside, tender on the inside. One of the pizzas I really liked was the pesto, prosciutto and olive pizza, so good!
But of course the Chicago style Italian beef and peppers pizza smothered with hot giardiniera was also a huge hit, us Chicagoans love our Italian beef!
Actually they all were a hit, it’s really hard to choose a favorite because each one was unique in it’s own way. I confess, we loved them all!
They even made a “Tornado Tossed” Greek Salad for us with an amazing feta dressing.
And then came dessert! “We’re Not in Kansas Anymore”- Banana Nutella Pizza, with toasted hazelnuts and white chocolate chips, need I say more?
But this pizza shown above was a real crowd pleaser because no one had ever tried anything like it before, it was called, “Follow the Yellow Brick Road” – Lemon Pizza. Thinly sliced lemons baked on top of a crust dotted with butter, when it came out of the oven Chef Alex generously sprinkled powdered sugar all over it. He suggested we wait until it cooled down to eat it for optimal flavor, but no one could wait! We’re still talking about that lemon pizza!
Dark chocolate gelato along with the birthday girls cake ended our pizzeria feast!
For those of you who live in the Chicagoland area I highly recommend The Pizza Via for your next party or event, it’s something out of the ordinary and your guests will love it! Chef Alex and his assistant were a wonderful, fun, hardworking team, they even made extra pizzas for everyone to take home. For a very unique party experience call Chef Alex at The Pizza Via!
Our little Dorothy had a very memorable day!
It’s hard to believe that 6 years ago today I started this food blog called Proud Italian Cook and what a journey it has been from day one! It still continues to be one of the joys of my life. I’m honored to be a part of a wonderful community of bloggers, many of whom I can truly call my friends. To all my readers, I can’t tell you how much I appreciate your support with all your comments and personal emails that you’ve taken the time to write. Thank you to all those who “liked” me on Facebook, and a thank you to all my loyal subscribers and those of you who have “pinned” any of my recipes on Pinterest. And last but not least my close family and friends!
This past year has been full of change for Proud Italian Cook, I really moved out of my comfort zone complete with a makeover! I took the leap and left a free blogging platform and moved forward on to one that I own, and I’m so happy I did! With it came many modern updates that I so wanted to give all my readers. The other thing I did, (and I still can’t believe it myself), I wrote my first e-book on Italian Sauces. Inside you will see what I cook for my own family, special recipes and stories that bring me back to my own traditions from childhood. For all of you who bought my book, thank you, I appreciate it. For those of you who might be considering it, it’s always available for purchase right here on my blog.
One of the absolute joys of summer for me is to walk out into my garden and pick fresh basil leaves when ever I feel like it. I have basil growing all over my backyard, in pots and in the ground. Our seasons are so short here that I have to get it while I can. I’m not the gardener in my family, the husband is, but he takes great direction from me concerning how many plants I want even if I go a little overboard!
This was a stellar year for basil, all the leaves were vibrant and lush, perfect for pesto and my new found love, basil infused olive oil!
Making basil oil is so simple and the end result is so amazing, trust me you’ll want to drizzle it all over your fish, meat, vegetables, eggs and crusty toasted bread! I had my sweet granddaughter help me in the process picking the leaves, check out her green toes!
All it takes is just a few short steps and you’re finished, and a little goes a very long way. Put some in a pretty glass bottle and hand it off to your friends and family, they will love it!
Give the 3 ingredients a quick whirl in a blender or a food processor until nice and pureed. Check out that beautiful color you can tell by looking at it how good it’s going to taste!
When it’s finished you can choose to strain it through cheesecloth for a more refined and clear result or just leave it as is, I did it both ways to show you, but either way the flavor is dynamic!
Here it is not strained dripping over a tomato and mozzarella stack sprinkled with flaky sea salt. To-die-for!
And here it is pictured above strained through cheesecloth, clear and still vibrant green. I made this for breakfast the other day, crusty toasted Italian bread drizzled with basil oil, layered with bacon, sliced tomatoes and a sunny side up egg drizzled with more basil oil. Another to-die-for! Thanks M-A for the inspiration!
I’m Marie, a wife, mother, mother-in-law, and gramma of two beautiful girls. My passion is food, clear and simple but especially Italian food, hence the name of my blog, Proud Italian Cook. I want you to feel right at home here so grab a cup of coffee, I’ll get the pastries, take a look around and enjoy your visit! {
