How To Throw A Pizza Party (PHOTOS)

The Huffington Post | By Joseph Erdos

Posted: 09/17/2012 9:19 am EDT Updated: 09/19/2012 4:14 pm EDT

In previous weeks we showed you how to throw a Swedish night with meatballs, salmon and aquavit, then we gave you Japanese night with sushi, ramen, and yakitori, but this week we're going to show you how to throw a pizza party Italian-style!

Forget about the take-out pizza. We're talking about pizza that you make at home. Whether you use your oven, grill, grill pan, fryer (yes, fried pizza) or (if you've got one) pizza oven, nothing beats a freshly made pizza that you've customized. And by all means, if you don't have the time or patience to make pizza dough, you can still enjoy a homemade pie -- get yourself some store-bought dough or use pitas, tortillas or even English muffins as the base.

But that's not all -- we've got more to make your pizza night your family's favorite night.

To give you that authentic feel of being in Italy or just a great pizza parlor, we've got some great soundtrack suggestions for you, including the king of cool crooner Dean Martin. Now that's amore!

Want to read more from HuffPost Taste? Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest and Tumblr.



Pizza Night





Get the Biscuit Pizza Crust recipe from Yammie's Noshery There's no kneading or rising required with this crust recipe.
Get the Personal Pizzas recipe Have everyone choose their own toppings and make personalized pizzas. Check out these quick pizza topping ideas.
Get the Merlot Marinara Pizza Sauce recipe from The Brewer and the Baker Forget the bottled pizza sauce, make your own for that incomparable homemade flavor. Make it days before your pizza night and keep it in the fridge until you're ready to use it.
Get the No-Knead Pizza Dough recipe from Handle the Heat Why spend all the time kneading dough, when you can use this recipe?
Get the Pizza Margherita recipe The basic, classic pizza pie.
Get the Grilled Pizza with Pesto, Tomatoes and Feta recipe Grilling your pizza gives it a great brick oven flavor. This recipe features pesto in place of tomato sauce and tops it wish fresh tomatoes. Get more grilled pizza recipes.
Get the Gluten-Free Pizza Crust recipe from The Devil Wears Parsley For all those who can't eat wheat products, this dough recipe uses brown rice flour and potato starch.
Get the Individual Grill Pan Pepperoni Pizzas recipe Don't have a grill? No problem. Use a grill pan and still get that great charred flavor.
Get the Sweet Potato, Balsamic Onion and Soppressata Pizza recipe Fall flavors take over in this seasonally inspired pizza recipe with sweet potato puree replacing the tomato sauce.
Get the White-Bean-and-Pancetta Pita Pizzas recipe When you don't have time to make dough, use pita bread.
Get the English Muffin Pizzas recipe from Cheap Recipe Blog Have a quick pizza dinner in no time when you use English muffins. It's perfect for kids.
Get the Delfina's Broccoli Rabe Pizza recipe A veggie pizza that's packed with great flavor.
Get the Pesto Meatball Pizza recipe This pizza has both tomato sauce and pesto. It's topped with cheese and hearty meatballs.
Get the Tortilla Pizzas with Figs, Feta, Bacon and Arugula recipe from Lemons and Anchovies Try making pizza on tortillas for dinner in a hurry -- the toppings don't have to be Mexican, they can be anything you want.
Get the Pizza with Gruyere, Pear and Chestnut Honey recipe This dessert pizza has a hint of sweetness from sliced pear and a drizzling of honey.
Get the S'mores Pizzas recipe Turn the campfire classic into an amazing dessert pizza.
With lyrics like "When the moon hits your eye like a big-a pizza pie that's amore," this Dean Martin classic is perfect for pizza night.
So the story is a girl goes back to her native Naples only to find everyone's doing the mambo and eating enchiladas -- that's how times change. Really appropriate if you're eating pizzas made on pitas, tortillas or English muffins.
Dean Martin sang an English version of this Italian classic, but Domenico Modugno was the one who made it famous. No translation needed, just go with the flow -- Italian singing speaks for itself.
This Italian singer-songwriter is known for his raspy voice and jazz-like compositions but of course he sings In Italian, which makes his music sound that much more romantic.