So, back in the day, my family owned a pizzeria in Orange, NJ.
It’s still there – Toast of the Town- but it’s not in the family any longer.
My mom worked there with her aunt Mary back when mom and dad first got married. She ripped the tops off her gym socks to make a sweatband on hot nights while Aunt Mary screamed out number 69.
Welcome to my Family.
So, while we no longer have the pizzeria, we do still have… drum roll… the pizza pans!
Mom has one and grandma has one. I’ve been jonesing for one.
And now, finally, this beauty is mine.
Do you see the perfectly seasoned pan? Do you understand that no matter what I did my pizza would not taste the same as my mom’s or grandma’s because no matter how i seasoned or topped it, it was not baked on this pan.
Until now.
My grandfather recently passed away and we are cleaning out my grandparents’ house and moving grandma into a cute little apartment. She no longer cooks for herself, so when mom asked what I wanted from the house, I asked for the pan.
Now, my Friday night pizza tastes just like mom’s.
Pizza night is such a great family tradition that we’ve been doing as long as I can remember. All you have to do is buy good dough (our grocery store has great frozen dough), defrost it in the morning and then stretch it, top it and bake it when you get home.
Drizzle some olive oil on the pan so the dough doesn’t stick and place your stretched dough on the pan.
Add canned pizza sauce
Shredded mozzarella
Slice pepperoni (because dad says you can’t have pizza without pepperoni)
And bake at 425 for about 15 minutes.
Slice
And mangia!
