About a year ago, my husband casually mentioned that he wanted to build a pizza oven. One of our close friend had just finished his and we had sampled some of the best pizza I’ve ever had. Keep in mind that my husband is a very handy guy… he built our house, our dog run, an in-yard BBQ, a waterfall, and loads of other cool things on our property. He’s kind of amazing.

I came home from work one day to this:

Mike had been digging out a little hollow in the side of the hill, but I was not quite expecting this kind of production. Once that was all set and dried, it was time to begin the really tough stuff… the arches. Keep in mind, there’s way, way, way more to this than I’m writing… Mike could walk you through step by step, detail by detail… he very much did not just pour some concrete and stack some bricks. The arches are truly works of art!

After the arches were complete, it was time to encase the whole thing in another layer of concrete (for insulation).

That was followed by packing in vermiculite, a fantastic insulator. Finally, the pretty stuff was added… walls, tiling, and a roof. All of the design was done by Mike… I love the colors he chose! My only contribution to the project (besides moral support) was to help grout… I like to think that’s the best pizza oven grouting job ever!

We had our inaugural firing and haven’t looked back… we’ve had some of the best pizza and have had the best time experimenting with different recipes (FYI, all purpose flour is the best and who knew I’d like an egg on my pizza?). Our go-to recipe has been pretty simple… tomato sauce, fresh mozzarella, fresh basil, and prosciutto. So delicious!!!