When my oldest asked to have pizza at his birthday party and requested cheese-only pizza for himself, he was extra sweet and said, “but you can put vegetables on everyone else’s!” and I laughed. So thoughtful of him, no? I then suggested we have a make-your-own pizza party and explained that we could have personal sized pizza crusts for each person and bowls of toppings so everyone could put their own toppings on. He thought it was a grand idea, so we did!
Since I only have two oven racks and two large pans, I was a little worried about being able to cook everyone’s pizzas at the same time. Until now, I’ve only seen little round personal pizzas, and I knew they’d have to be tiny to fit 4 on each of my big round pans. Then I got an idea! I’d make two large round crusts and cut them before baking, then roll the edges of each…
The crust recipe I use is on the back of the Pizza Yeast I buy at the grocery store. I’m sure it’s just fast acting yeast, but the recipe is good and very easy to make, so I continue to buy the little packets. The crusts rose nicely and baked evenly and still had a little space between them. I made the crusts early in the afternoon and just left them on the stove top to cool till party time.
Just before the party guests arrived, I started frying some sausage, and while that cooked we opened little cans of olives and mushrooms and chopped peppers and onions. We put all those things and a bag of pepperoni in individual bowls alongside a big bowl of shredded mozzarella and some jars of sauce with spoons. By the time the sausage was cooked and ready to go in a bowl of its own, the rest of the toppings were set out and the mess cleaned up.
They turned out fantastic! Perfectly sized wedge-shaped personal pizzas. Cut in half they made two nice slices. (I don’t know why big pizza chains don’t do this for birthday parties.) The whole family, even the adults, enjoyed making their own personal pizzas, and boy did they taste good hot and fresh out of the oven!
I’ve always wondered how to go about this. Thanks for the ideas.
What a great idea. Sounds like a fun dinner!
Found this on Pinterest, such a genius idea! Thanks for sharing!