Sylvan Park Pizza Potluck

By Rachel Howell / Photography By Rachel Howell | November 09, 2018

Patrick's bubbly, browned crust is the trademark of wood-fired pizza.

A COUPLE AND THEIR WOOD-FIRED OVEN BRING A SYLVAN PARK NEIGHBORHOOD TOGETHER.

A few years ago, my husband Patrick ordered a wood-fired pizza oven—from Italy. The purchase was both substantial and spontaneous and totally out of character for him, but he seemed to know what he was doing, and well, at least it wasn’t a motorcycle. Not one to take a food endeavor lightly, I seized on his newfound interest and bought him a copy of Ken Forkish’s The Elements of Pizza, heralded by many as the bible of all things pizza. Instantly, my husband was hooked, up to his elbows in flour on a weekly basis, determined to perfect his recipe—a fine-tuned riff on one of several Neapolitan variations offered in the book. The early results were delicious, if not a little clumsy, and our kids were eager guinea pigs, but heating a wood-fired pizza oven to temp (this one gets up to 1,000 degrees, with 800 degrees being optimal) is no simple task. As my husband soon learned, there’s an art to the fire component as well, with everything from the type of wood (white oak is best), to the moisture content, to the temperature outdoors affecting how quickly and successfully the oven heats up. With so much time and effort put into the process, both inside and out of the kitchen, it only made sense that we share the wealth.

Rachel Howell and husband, Patrick with their wood-fired oven from Italy on their driveway in Sylvan Park.

One autumn day, Patrick was talking with our neighbors about hosting a small pizza gathering and the next thing we knew the entire block had turned up, everyone contributing their own toppings to the mix, potluck style. Since then, such parties have become a fixture on our block, bringing together kids and adults alike. We provide the dough and the sauce (also homemade from a Ken Forkish recipe) and leave the cheese and the toppings to the guests. Sure, there are classics such as pepperoni, salami, olives, and roasted red peppers, but as the gatherings have evolved so have the ingredients. One foodie friend of ours spends weeks brainstorming her next show-stopping recipe, everything from Moroccan lamb to smashed potatoes with fresh herbs. Our one rule? Fresh mozzarella only—the shredded stuff just doesn’t do the oven justice. It may take a lot of work on the front end, but the payoff is more than worth it.