So I taught a private pizzamaking-at-home class

Plain cheese pizza
This plain pie was inspired by Di Fara Pizza. It’s got a mix of fresh and low-moisture mozzarella, plenty of aged cheese, and all of that dairy melds into a molten orange pool atop the crust.

Last Friday I taught a one-off home-pizzamaking workshop for a group of five—a dad, his two sons, their uncle/The Dad’s brother, and a friend of the family. Here are two pizzas I had a chance to snap pictures of.

The plain pie is a Di Fara–inspired pizza with a blend of regular “low-moisture” mozzarella and fresh cow’s milk mozzarella (fior di latte). Instead of Di Fara Pizza, Midwood, Brooklyn usual grana padano, we used Parmigiano Reggiano. Where’s the basil, you say? Let me tell you…

In this photo, the pizza is sitting on the countertop to my right. At some point, I turned and was talking to the group to my left, likely blabbing about pre- and post-oven toppings and/or condiments. I turn back to my right and see the younger of the sons, an early high-schooler, start moving in on the pizza with kitchen shears and basil in hand like he’s Dom DeMarco himself.

People, let me tell you, at that moment, I couldn’t have been any prouder of any young person who wasn’t my own daughter.

“Have you been to Di Fara?!?”

He nods.

“So I’m dealing with some folks who know their stuff.”

“Yeah,” says The Dad. “We’re all big on pizza.”

Which, yeah. Of course. Who hires someone to teach them to make it at home who ISN’T into pizza? Duh.

White clam pizza
Franny’s in Park Slope, Brooklyn, closed more than a year ago. One of its most popular pies was its white clam pizza, made with an oniony clam juice cream, red pepper flakes, and parsley.

The second pizza is a white clam pie à la Franny’s (RIP). I made the dough, but this was stretched, topped, and launched by the “students.” Not only that, but The Dad prepped the clams and clam cream sauce per this recipe on Serious Eats. And either I’m deluding myself, but I think if I told you that that pie came from some joint in New Haven, you’d believe me. Heck, I know I’d believe it!

And, oh, man. That clam pie was good. Well, until next post, folks, hastalapizza 😊🍕✌