The Pizza Oven

The pizzaiolo hard at work.

On the Amalfi Coast the traditional houses, and that's just about everyone's, have a variety of rooms and facilities not commonly found in the average city house - like a mulino (mill) for making olive oil, and a cellar for making wine, and a cistern for storing rain water, and a wood-fired pizza oven.These days the mulino is more likely to be a chic office conversion, and the cistern turned into a rustic wine cellar. But the wine-making facilities will more than likely still be in use; and the pizza oven remains popular.

Lookin' goooood...!

Wood-fired pizza tastes best, as all those Italian pizzerias around the world know. And if you have such an oven, you probably have a great recipe for pizza. if you need a recipe, and some detailed instructions on how to use a wood-fired pizza oven, here's a great site. of course, not only to you need an oven and a recipe, you also need the skill of a great pizzaiolo:

pizzaiolo m (plural pizzaioli)

1. man who makes pizzas 

Recently, I was a guest at a local Italian family pizza party, and I can only say that both the production of the pizza and the consumption of it were fantastic! Grazie mille, Cristina and Umberto.

Bianca - mozzarella, potato & rosemary from the garden. 

Judging the heat.

Pizzas piling up.

First, make your tomato sauce....

Pizza dough, ready for the expert hand of the pizzaiolo.

And there he is...

The finished product...

...and more...

...and more!

Traditional.

Another slice?

Bravissimo!