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Farm Fresh Pizza – Entirely From Scratch

Most kids eat a lot of pizza. But do they ever stop to think about what really goes into making one? A recent farm fresh pizza experience gave our kids new insight into what goes into all of the ingredients.

Farm Fresh Pizza Adventure

Our farm fresh pizza experience began at a farm and ended at a wood-burning oven. Yes, it was an all-day affair. Yes, we probably could have made a microwave pizza in less than a minute and called it a dinner. But at the end of our adventure, the kids were proud of their creations, the pizza was delicious, and we felt like we gave them a little bit more than just the food to chew on.

We started the day off with our kids and their cousins at a local farm picking tomatoes. We wound up picking a combination of larger heirloom-style tomatoes and cherry tomatoes.

Happily, we found a few rows that were practically exploding with fruit:

We also grabbed a half-gallon of fresh whole milk from the dairy at the farm we visited, with the goal of making our own mozzarella cheese. Then we headed back up to the farmhouse with all of our treasures, moving quickly so we wouldn’t get caught in the summer storm that loomed overhead.

Making Homemade Mozzarella and Tomato Sauce

Back at the house, Chef Joe led us through the mozzarella-making process, which is surprisingly quick and easy. The kids were amazed to learn that it takes a half-gallon of milk to make just one ball of cheese. We’ve printed the complete homemade mozzarella cheese recipe in our Recipe section.

Clockwise from top left: Pouring the milk into the saucepan, slicing the custard, ladling the curds into a strainer, chilling the final product in a bowl of ice water.

Next we cooked down the tomatoes and basil to make a simple summer tomato sauce. (Check out our tomato sauce recipe here). We also prepped the toppings and the pizza dough.  (OK, we cheated a little on the “homemade” dough part. This time we bought some fresh dough from a local pizzeria. But if you want to, you can make homemade pizza dough using this recipe.)

Once the oven was heated, we were ready to go. With the high heat of the wood-burning stove, the pizzas were ready to eat in about three or four minutes (give or take a day’s worth of prep work).

Pizza Making Tips

Do you even need to ask if it was delicious? Of course it was. Luckily we had the benefit of Joe’s pizza-making experience to avoid rookie errors. If you’re making your own pizza at home, here are a few tips:

1) Take it easy on the sauce: Even if it’s the most delicious tomato sauce you’ve ever made, resist the temptation to ladle on too much sauce or the pizza will get soggy.

2) Lighten up on the flour: While you’re shaping the dough, don’t go overboard on the flour. Too much flour will cause the dough to lose its moisture and its elasticity.

3) Keep temperatures constant: Try to keep the ingredients at roughly the same temperature. If one topping is ice cold while the others are warm or room temperature it can make for uneven cooking.

4) Think thin: If you’re adding toppings (fresh tomatoes, peppers, onions, etc.) slice them thinly; they’ll cook up better that way.

5) Hot, hot, hot: Of course not everyone has a wood-burning pizza oven. But in general, when you’re cooking pizza at home, the hotter your oven, the better the pizza. Even if you don’t have a wood-burning pizza oven, make sure your oven or grill is set to at least 450 degrees so that the pizza will get that perfect, irresistible crisp.

Special thanks to Chef Joe of Friday Night Out Catering, and to his kids, for the all-day pizza adventure!

P.S. Here’s a fun pizza-making adventure we had with a community pizza oven.

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7 Responses to Farm Fresh Pizza – Entirely From Scratch

  1. Laura @ Family Spice August 13, 2013 at 7:42 am #

    Can I have a slice or three? WOW! Now that is fresh! I make my own sauce, but not mozzarella. You inspire me, Jeanne!

    • Jeanne August 13, 2013 at 10:00 am #

      The cheese was all Joe’s inspiration…but to be honest, it is super-easy and surprisingly fast!

  2. Small Footprints August 15, 2013 at 1:51 pm #

    What a great activity. So many people have never visited a farm or picked produce. Your children will never forget the experience of harvesting food for their pizza. And hopefully it’ll start their love affair with growing food and enjoying fresh, tasty produce. Thanks for sharing your day with us!

    • Jeanne August 15, 2013 at 5:20 pm #

      Thanks so much – I hope so!

  3. farmwater August 21, 2013 at 4:13 pm #

    What a great idea! And that pizza looks real tasty!!

    • Jeanne August 21, 2013 at 7:53 pm #

      It was – thanks, Clare!

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