Pizza Ideas for Theme Parties
Guest Post by Chris Molnar
Pizza and parties go hand-in-hand, especially at birthday parties, and while watching movies or television shows. Set up your t.v. trays, sit in your easy chair with a plate and a couple slices, and heaven! We are huge pizza lovers, and do this at least once a month.
Lately, though, we’ve gone beyond simply ordering take-out, and making our own pizzas. We’ve even gone so far as to base our pizza toppings on the theme of the movie we watch. Which got us to thinking, wouldn’t this make a neat idea for a theme party?
“Of course it is!” I hear you say. Well then, here’s a couple fabulous ideas for theme pizzas to make for a party.
Setting Up Your Pizza – Dough and Ingredients
If you’re going to be making your own pizza, you will need an excellent Italian pizza dough recipe. Check out my previous post on how to make pizza dough, both by hand and in a bread maker. If you’re ordering in (which is perfectly fine!), you will likely have a family-owned pizza restaurant nearby. I prefer these, simply because they have more creative topping ideas. If not, all pizza places will allow you to customize your toppings.
The day before, make your dough. When it is finished, wrap it in plastic wrap and put in the refrigerator. You can also freeze your dough. Wrap it in plastic wrap, then a freezer-grade Ziplock bag, and store it in your freezer for up to four months. When you’re ready, leave it in your fridge overnight, or on the counter for three hours to thaw.
Also the day before or morning of, buy all your ingredients, chop or slice them, and shred your cheese. Place them all in small, individual bowls and place in the refrigerator.
Doing all this in advance, you’ve cut out 90% of your efforts and time. With all your other party activities, you won’t have to spend time chopping and shredding. Simply roll the dough, put on your toppings, and bake!
Pizza Themes
Now for the actual themes. Here’s a couple examples to match your pizza theme with your party, movie or television event:
Princess theme party – A princess needs the royal treatment when it comes to pizza! Along with tea and dainties, this pizza needs to be fit for a queen – Margherita of Savoy, Queen of Italy, that is! Yes, the Margherita pizza was invented for her, and involves sliced tomatoes, mozzarella and basil leaves – red, white and green, representing Italy’s flag. Bake it on a thin crust, or even flatbread.
Avatar movie party – Now that James Cameron’s blockbuster Avatar is out on video, we have a pizza to match the world of Pandora for your avatar theme party – a blue cheese pizza! On a honey whole wheat crust, add pesto, spinach leaves, sliced mushrooms, mozzarella and some oregano. Then, sprinkle crumbled blue cheese all over it. Yum!
Romantic movie night – Yes, pizza and amore go together, so if it’s just the two of you, you need a lover’s pizza! Add marinara sauce, mozzarella, oysters from a tin, olives, red onion and artichoke hearts. Finally, sprinkle minced garlic all over.
Cinco de Mayo – Cinco de Mayo, or any Mexican-inspired holiday, means a taco pizza! Add salsa, black olives, and tomatoes. Toss Frank’s Hot Sauce with cooked ground beef chunks, then spread onto the pizza. Add ranch dressing. Finish with a good layer of mozzarella, cheddar and monterey jack. Cook, then add crushed taco chips and lettuce. Delicioso!
Mafia movies – Say hello to my little friend – a meatball pizza pie! Add marinara sauce, pepperoni, cooked meatballs about half an inch in diameter, cut in half and added, cut-side down, then mozzarella.
A garden-themed party – If you have a large garden, you will likely be able to hand-pick these ingredients for your pizza. Marinara pizza sauce, mozzarella cheese, sliced red peppers, spinach or swiss chard, tomatoes, and asparagus. Bake on a whole-wheat crust. Add herbs from your garden, too – basil, oregano and Italian parsley (broad leaves, not bunches.)
Spider Man superhero party – No, not spiders as a topping! Pepperoni and black olives are more tasty – add marinara sauce, mozzarella cheese, then pepperoni. Finally, thinly slice black olives and trace a web pattern over the pizza. Thus, you have black webbing over the red pepperoni.
Twilight theme parties – For Twilight fans, or any vampire-themed party, you can make a vampire and an anti-vampire pizza. For the former, think lots of red, for blood – tomato sauce, tomatoes and pepperoni. For the latter, keep those vampires away with garlic, olive oil and oregano!
There you have it! Of course, there’s thousands of birthday party themes out there, so match your pizza ingredients to the character. If that character would eat pizza, what do you think would be their favorite? Strawberry shortcake would have a dessert pizza, and Darth Vader would have lots of black olives (and Jabba the Hut would have a big, meaty and cheesy pizza – Pizza the Hut – get it?) Tinkerbell would have spinach and green peppers with parmesan cheese “fairy dust” sprinkled after the pizza has slightly cooled. Using your imagination and a bit of research, you can make any kind of wild, creative pizza to fit your theme party!
Chris Molnar is a work-at-home Dad married to a wonderful Italian woman. “Pizza night” is a regular occurrence, and is now shared with his two children. Chris is the publisher of Themeaparty.com, a site filled with theme party ideas, tips and supplies. Click here for a great list of kid’s birthday party ideas.
