Pizza is one of the best things to eat on a movie night at home; for example, when you are rewatching This is Spinal Tap to refresh your memory of, let’s say, the lyrics to “Stonehenge” or exactly what Nigel Tufnel says about the dials on the monitor going to 11 (he’s misquoted so often) before seeing Spinal Tap II: The End Continues.
This pre-watching will stand you in good stead. You will remember how endearing these goofballs are and be softened up for their even more endearing septuagenarian selves. And OMG, the new drummer! Worth the price of admission alone!
Back in mid-October, the Yukon Film Society (YFS) screened Tap II for a whole week at the Yukon Theatre; my roommate and I watched the first Tap at home on Saturday night and went to the late matinee of Tap II on Sunday.
Rob Reiner, Christopher Guest, Harry Shearer and Michael McKean are so convincing that I almost believed this was a band I’d once loved on a reunion tour. Cameos from stars we know and love just add to the charm. You can rent the sequel at great expense from some of the usual streaming services, but I’m hoping this might be a movie YFS brings back. I’d see it again. And again.
But back to pizza—you don’t have to take your eyes off the screen for very long, once you’re holding a piece, so you can give the story your full attention, but you might want to wear an apron to catch falling bits of cheese or olive.
A warning before embarking on this recipe: it’s not a quick affair. I make the dough from scratch and cook most of the ingredients first. The upside is, when you’re ready to start, you can assemble the pizzas and cook them pretty darn quick. When we got back from the movie theatre we were seated, pizza in hand, within 30 minutes.
Thin-Crusted Movie-Night Pizza (Crust)
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp coarse sea salt
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 3/4 to 1 cup water
Instructions
- Whisk flour and salt together. Combine oil and 3/4 cup water in a measuring cup. Stir liquid into dry ingredients, adding more water, as necessary, until the dough forms a rough ball. Knead until smooth on a lightly-floured surface.
- Cover with oil, wrap in plastic and let rest for 20 minutes. Cut into 4 equal parts and form into balls. Cover with plastic and allow to rest for another 20 minutes. (The resting is important: it allows the gluten to relax, making the dough more flexible and, hence, easier to roll out.)
- Prepare two to four baking sheets by lining them with parchment paper and sprinkling cornmeal or semolina flour overtop.
- On a lightly-floured surface, roll dough into oblongs about 16 inches long and 5 inches wide. (If the dough shrinks back while you’re rolling, let it rest for another couple of minutes.) Transfer to prepared baking sheets. Can be made ahead to this point, but cover dough well with plastic wrap and a tea towel overtop so it doesn’t dry out.
Notes
Topping Suggestions
Ingredients
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 4 Tbsp olive oil divided
- 1 medium cooking onion cut in half lengthwise and thinly sliced
- 4 thick slices bacon
- 1 yellow or red pepper cored, seeded, pith removed and thinly sliced
- 1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar for peppers
- 10 kalamata olives pitted and torn in two
- 1/4 lb cremini mushrooms cleaned and thickly sliced
- 1 medium tomato chopped
- 1 cup steamed chopped kale
- 2 or 3 small cooked potatoes cut into 1/4-inch slices
- 4 Tbsp pesto
- 2 cups grated Parmesan
- 2 cups grated cheddar or mozzarella
Instructions
- Combine half the garlic and half the olive oil in a small bowl and set aside.
- Caramelize the onions: heat one tablespoon oil in a medium-sized frying pan over medium heat. Add onions, stir and cook until onions begin to brown. Reduce heat to medium-low and continue to cook onions slowly, stirring occasionally, until soft and uniformly brown, about 40 minutes. If the onions start to stick and burn, add a splash of water or white wine. Add 1 tablespoon of garlic near the end. Once cooked, transfer onions to a small bowl.
- While onions are cooking, prepare the bacon, mushrooms and peppers. Place the bacon in a cold cast-iron frying pan and turn the heat to medium. Cook until crisp but still juicy. Remove from the pan and slice into bite-sized pieces when cool. Transfer to a small bowl
- Add mushrooms to the same pan. Cook over medium heat until just beginning to brown, adding more oil as necessary. Toss with a teaspoon of garlic and a pinch of salt, remove from the pan and transfer to a small bowl.
- Add peppers to the same pan. Cook over medium heat, adding oil as necessary, until softened and beginning to brown. Turn heat to high and add balsamic vinegar, all at once, and toss to coat. Remove from heat immediately and toss with a teaspoon of garlic. Transfer to a small bowl.
Notes
- Gather all your bowls of ingredients, the oil-garlic mixture, the pesto and the cheese. Brush each pizza crust with the oil-garlic mixture. Spread two crusts with 2 tablespoons each of pesto. Scatter caramelized onions over all four pizzas.
- Mix and match the remaining ingredients to your liking—try bacon, chopped tomato and cheddar; mushrooms, peppers, olives and Parmesan; mushrooms, bacon and potatoes; or kale, potatoes and a mix of Parmesan and cheddar. Make sure each pizza has a good covering of cheese—use it all!
- Bake pizzas at 400 F for 18 to 20 minutes, until tops are bubbling and just beginning to brown. Cut each pizza into 4 or 6 slices and serve immediately.
