Pro Pizza at Home with Joe Heffernan

Making pizza at home is a lot like being in a play. Now, hear us out. When you commit to a theater role, you memorize your lines until they are imprinted on your brain, right? Then when rehearsals begin, you practice saying your lines until they are imprinted on your tongue. By the time opening night arrives, you hop on stage and just... play. 

How does this relate to pizza? Well, think of getting to know each part of the pizza-making process as learning your lines, and running trials of your homemade pizzas as rehearsing those lines. You can practice on your family, and then once you have the steps down, you can invite friends over and just... play. Because once you've dialed in the process from shaping the dough to heating the oven to finding that just-right mix of toppings and cheesemaking the pies is fun and stress-free.

So here's your script: tips and techniques pulled from the brain of Joe Heffernan, co-owner of Independent Pizzeria in Seattle. Use them to get you started on the cooking performance that will ultimately wow your friends and neighbors. Don't be afraid to ad lib some lines; every oven is different, after all, and it might take a little improv to get the results you want. Will you make a perfect pie on your first try? Probably not. But we think you'll enjoy the path to pizza stardom, and eat a lot of delicious trials along the way.