If there’s one thing that makes any day better it’s a hot slice of pizza shared among friends. National Pizza Party Day was created to give people an excuse (like we needed one) to get together with a group of people we love and enjoy the rich cheesy taste of pizza.
Pizza has a long history, and it has become one of the mainstays of office meetings, birthday parties, and friendly get-togethers.
How to Celebrate National Pizza Party Day
Order Some Pizza
There is nothing more delicious than celebrating this incredible day! You get to gather a group of friends together and order pizza from your favorite pizzeria.
Make Pizza at Home
If you’re feeling really creative you can actually convince people to create their own pizza from scratch. You can start with a pre-made crust and sauce and just add your own toppings if you want it to be super easy. Or you can go through the whole process of making it from scratch, sauce and dough and all!
Perform a Pizza Crawl
Another fun way to celebrate National Pizza Party Day is to do a “pizza crawl.” If you have ever wondered where the best pizza in your town is, National Pizza Party Day presents you with the perfect opportunity to find out.
You can either do this solo and have your own party or you can get your friends together. Find out where you can get a pizza in your area, and go around different establishments. You can even take a book with you to rank your pizza experiences.
If you get a slice from each place, you will be able to visit many establishments by the time you’ve had a full pizza!
Learn Fun Facts About Pizza
In an ode to National Pizza Party Day, let’s take a look at some fun and some surprising facts about pizza:
Western Europe is the biggest pizza market in the world, worth $54.4 billion, followed closely by North America at $50.7 billion, then Latin and South America at $16.8 billion
Americans order 350 slices of pizza every second
The world’s most expensive pizza costs $9,200 and it can be found in Salerno, Sicily
61 percent of people prefer thin-crust pizzas and pepperoni is the most popular topping
Saturday is the most popular night to eat pizza
In 2001, Pizza Hut became the first restaurant to deliver a pizza to space, rocketing a pizza to an astronaut at the International Space Station — the pizza was topped with salami and extra spices because taste buds are dulled in space
History of National Pizza Party Day
The history of National Pizza Party Day is really the history of pizza itself. For thousands of years, people have been gathering around to enjoy this delicious food. Of course, all those years ago it may not have looked quite like we imagine it today.
The first people to make something like the pizza we know were the Greeks, who started by covering bread with bread, herbs, oil, and cheese. Another version was enjoyed by the Romans, who covered a dough sheet with honey and cheese and seasoned it with bay leaves.
Pizza first started looking like we’re familiar with as Neapolitan Flatbread in Italy, a dish made with mozzarella cheese from buffalo around Naples. Over time new ingredients were added and it spread across the globe.
In 1905 pizza found its way to America in a little pizzeria in Little Italy in New York City. Today cheese for pizza is produced in quantities of over 2 billion pounds every year and is one of America’s favorite foods. With so much history behind this incredible dish, it’s not surprising that it finally got its own day. One of the challenges when organizing a pizza party is that not everyone agrees what should go on a pizza.
Some people fiercely believe that pineapple has no place on a pizza, while others think that anchovies do. The great thing about a Pizza Party is you can order enough variety for everyone!
Bonus: Easy Pizza Dough Recipe
We’re not going to tell you how to enjoy your pizza! After all, we all have our own favorite toppings. However, we can tell you how to make your own easy pizza dough.
Ingredients
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups of all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon active dry yeast
- 1 tablespoon of sugar
- 1 cup warm water (about 105f/45c)
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 450F, grease a pizza pan and set aside.
- Grab a large mixing bowl, and add the warm water, yeast and sugar. Stir to combine.
- Allow the mixture to sit for five minutes or until bubbles start to form and the texture becomes frothy. Then add olive oil and stir gently to combine.
- Add two cups of salt and flour to the mixture. Mix with a spatula until a ball starts to form. The dough may be a bit sticky at this point. Keep adding flour, as needed, to create a dough ball.
- Transfer to a floured surface and knead until it is smooth. Roll the dough into the shape you desire and then transfer it to the pan gently.
- Prick the dough all around with a fork.
- Bake on the lower rack of the oven for five minutes.
- Add toppings and bake until lightly browned and crispy.
