Ring in 2023 with an at-home pizza party

In many countries, showcasing round items is popular on New Year’s Eve because the circular shape symbolizes money and wealth, and tradition says honoring the items will boost your income for the next 12 months. You can put on your favorite polka-dot outfit for the evening and fill your pockets with coins, if you like.

Even better, eat plenty of round foods like doughnuts, cookies, cakes, grapes, oranges and that global favorite, pizza.

One of Wine Country’s “luckiest” pizzas might be the version served at Roof 106, the open-air eatery and craft cocktail lounge atop the swanky Matheson restaurant in Healdsburg. That’s because chef-owner Dustin Valette and chef-pizzaiolo Brian Best treat the usually humble pie with near-religious dedication to pristine ingredients. You might say they build altars to pizzas.

For this New Year’s Eve, Roof 106 will be open late with food and drink specials all nigh, and a DJ from 10 p.m. to midnight. Just keep in mind that the stylish spot is very popular, and the already-hard-to-get reservations are only accepted for groups of up to four.

Instead, suggests Valette, why not host your own pizza party at home? You can invite as few or as many friends and family members as you like, customize pies with any toppings your group prefers and have a blast doing it.

“I think one of the fun things about doing pizza at home with friends is that you enjoy the camaraderie of, ‘Hey, we’re creating something together,’” Best said. “It’s interactive — not like the buffet where like all the food is out on the table when the guests arrive. Everyone knows pizza and loves pizza, but there’s sort of a magic and mysteriousness to it, because probably all of us have eaten it a million times more than we’ve made it ourselves.”

Top chef recipes can be intimidating, it’s true, even for the seeming basic pies.

“We do all kinds of high-touch fancy stuff in restaurants,” said Valette, who opened his first restaurant, Valette, in 2015 following a six-year career as executive chef of Charlie Palmer’s Dry Creek Kitchen at Hotel Healdsburg. At Matheson/Rooftop 106, which opened late last year, many ingredients come from his Healdsburg hometown, and nearly all come from Sonoma County.

As he noted, the steak he secures for his restaurants is a top premium quality, but really, nearly the same steak can be purchased at places like Journeyman Meat Co. in Healdsburg or even Oliver’s Market, then sizzled at home with great results.

“But pizza is different,” Valette said. “If you don’t eat (it) right at the pizzeria, you take it to go, and by the time you get home, it’s soggy. Or if you make it at home, it’s either frozen or grocery-store cold heat-up stuff. But after you learn how to make it the right way, you take it out of the oven and it’s hot — ow, I’m burning myself! — and so delicious, and I’m so happy.”

So Valette suggests what he calls “a little-kids’ version,” where home cooks can read a complex recipe such as his, then think about substitutions.

Conquer the crust

Toppings usually steal the show, but the dough actually makes or breaks a pizza.

“I always say, you’ve got to stretch the canvas properly before you apply the paints,” Best said. “When I was developing pizzas for the restaurant, anytime someone wanted to talk to me about toppings, I was like, ‘I don’t want to hear it. We’re putting just tomato sauce and mozzarella on the pizza until I get the dough right.’”

At Roof 106, doughs are crafted with boutique flours like Indian Jammu and Sonora Wheat grown by Lou Preston of Healdsburg’s organic-biodynamic Preston Farm & Winery. And the yeast is a unique, wine-based strain created by California pinot noir pioneer and founder of Healdsburg’s acclaimed Williams Selyem Winery, Burt Williams.

The challenge: The general public can’t buy the Williams yeast, and chef Best’s dough-making method requires a three- to five-day closely monitored fermentation process to give it its distinctive fruitiness and rich, slightly sour depth of flavor. He also works with a poolish, which is a fancy term for any sort of fermented grain or fermented flour mixed with water.

The difference: his poolish is treated like a sourdough starter, with the “mother” yeast constantly fed high-protein flour as often as every six hours over several days before making the dough.

Purchasing pizza dough is the easiest solution, but making a simple dough is more fun, and not really as hard as it sounds, the chefs insist.

“The key is allowing it to ferment, but it doesn’t necessarily need to be a three-day fermentation,” Best said. “You can still achieve something delicious if you make the dough the day or night before with a commercial active dry yeast. Then just leave it out for a few hours at room temperature to proof and activate the dough.”

For the home cook, he suggests mixing the yeast and water, then letting it sit at least overnight before mixing the dough.

“If you’re using something like Fleischmann’s yeast, that’s totally fine,” Best said. “But doing this preferment step, you know you’re still activating that yeast, and you’re still going to increase those yeast notes and bring a depth of flavor that you wouldn’t get by just mixing those ingredients, letting them proof for a few hours and then making pizza that same day.”

Take on the toppings

Roof 106’s offers a bestselling combo of pork belly, Gruyère, roasted garlic, homemade crème fraîche and red onion. The pork is painstakingly house-cured, then cooked sous vide for eight hours.

“But you can also buy a nice slab of bacon at Big John’s or Oliver’s, dice it up and cook it down,” Valette said. “That works almost as well.”

The crème fraîche can be bought at nearly any store.

Bring on the bake

Roof 106 boasts a handcrafted, 3,800-pound Mugnaini wood-burning oven that roars at 800 to 900 degrees and cranks out perfect pies in just a few minutes. But you can simply get yourself a pizza steel and preheat your oven to its maximum, usually around 500 degrees.

“Many people have a pizza stone; we’ve known about them for a long time,” Best said.

“A baking steel is another option that works well. The goal is to create a thermal mass approximating what happens when you put raw pizza dough into a wood-fired oven, which is to say the cooking surface stays hot. This way, the pizza bakes quickly and yields a crispy crust.”

Make it a party

Depending on the oven heat and whether you use a steel or stone, most pies will take about 10 minutes to bake, one pie at a time. The chefs recommend putting out an antipasti of cheeses, meats and vegetables and other favorite appetizers for nibbling in the meantime.

“You don’t have everybody just sort of standing over each other waiting for that next pizza to come out,” Best said. “You’re all snacking on olives while you’re watching those pizzas rise in the oven, and you’re seeing them come to life. And it’s really enjoyable.”

Then just relax as you experiment with even the most basic pizza preparation.

“There are always ways to yield something delicious even if it’s not at the rigorous execution level we do at the restaurant every day,” Best said. “Equally importantly, making it simply is going to be fun for you and not a nightmare. When it turns out right, it’s a really awesome achievement.

“And at the end of it, you get to eat pizza.”

This recipe is from Santa Rosa chef, teacher and James Beard award-winning cookbook author John Ash.

Simple Pizza Dough

Makes about 24 ounces of dough or enough for six 10-inch pizzas

1 envelope (2-½ teaspoons) active dry yeast

2 cups or so warm water

2 teaspoons sugar

1-½ teaspoons table salt or 3 teaspoons kosher salt

½ cup finely ground cornmeal or whole-wheat flour

3 tablespoons olive oil

4 - 4-½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook, stir the yeast into the warm water with sugar. After 5 minutes it should begin to bubble. Then stir in the salt, cornmeal and 1 tablespoon of the olive oil.

Add the flour, stirring at low speed until the dough forms a rough ball and pulls away from the sides of the bowl, about 4 minutes. You may need to add a little flour or water here. Let the dough rest in the bowl for 15 minutes. It should be fairly soft.

Remove from the bowl and divide the dough into 6 equal pieces. Gently round each piece into a ball and brush or rub with a little olive oil. Place each ball into a zip-close plastic storage bag, drizzle remaining olive oil (1 teaspoon or so) over each ball and seal the bags closed. Let the balls sit for at least 30 minutes. You also can refrigerate them overnight at this point and roll out and make pizzas the next day. Sitting overnight actually gives you a better flavor in the dough.

If you’ve refrigerated them, plan to take them out of the refrigerator at least 1 hour before you make the pizzas. Alternately, you can freeze the dough for up to 3 months. Again, plan to let the dough thaw and come to room temperature before using it.

The following are adapted from recipes by chef Brian Best of Roof 106 in Healdsburg.

You can make great pizza with organic bread flour and whole-wheat flour (which have a higher protein content than all-purpose flour) that are readily available, Best said.

Restaurant-Style Pizza Dough

Makes about seven 12-inch pizzas

2 ¾ cups water, cold

Poolish (recipe follows)

¼ cup olive oil

1 teaspoon Burt Williams wine yeast (or instant dry yeast)

8 ¾ cups Indian Jammu flour (or bread flour)

½ cup whole-wheat flour

2 tablespoons kosher salt

Add all ingredients (in order listed) to the bowl of a stand mixer. Mix with dough hook on “speed 1” for 15 minutes. Scrape down sides as needed to ensure even mixing.

Portion into 10-ounce dough sections and roll into smooth round balls. Place dough balls on lightly oiled sheet tray (not touching, about 3 inches apart). You may need to use 2 trays. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least overnight and up to 3 days.

Poolish

¾ cup water, room temperature

¾ cup organic bread flour

⅛ teaspoon Burt Williams wine yeast (or instant dry yeast)

Mix all ingredients in a mixing bowl using a wooden spoon until thoroughly combined. Scrape down the sides. Cover and let stand for 12 to 18 hours at room temperature (65-70 degrees).

Mushroom and Buratta Pizza

Makes one 12-inch pizza

1 10-ounce pizza dough ball

½ cup Mixed Mushrooms, cooked (recipe follows)

½ cup Porcini-Truffle Crema (recipe follows)

2 ounces burrata cheese

3 tablespoons Parmesan cheese, grated

To finish

1 cup baby arugula, loosely packed

3 tablespoons Crispy Shallots (recipe follows)

2 tablespoons Crispy Lomo (recipe follow)

White wine vinegar, to taste

Olive oil, to taste

Salt and pepper, to taste

Lightly flour the pizza dough and stretch to 12 inches. Place on a floured wooden pizza peel. Make sure there is enough flour to prevent sticking, but not more than needed.

Spread the Porcini-Truffle Crema onto the dough, leaving ½ inch of edge without sauce. Pinch the burrata into 6 pieces and place them evenly over the sauce (you’ll cut the pizza into 6 slices at the end, so think about 1 piece of burrata in the center of each slice. The burrata will spread a lot during cooking).

Evenly scatter the mushrooms over the sauce in a single layer, being careful not to overload the pizza. Sprinkle the Parmesan cheese evenly over the top and immediately transfer pizza to preheated pizza stone.

Bake for 6 to 10 minutes, until crust is nicely browned and bottom is fully baked. Don’t open the oven too much, especially during the first 5 to 6 minutes, to prevent the oven losing too much heat.

When baked, transfer the pizza to a cooling rack set over a sheet tray for 1 minute. This helps the pizza retain more crispness in the bottom crust.

Meanwhile, lightly dress the arugula with a little vinegar, oil, salt and pepper, to taste.

Transfer the pizza to a cutting board and cut into 6 pieces. Scatter the dressed arugula over the pizza, then top with the Crispy Shallots and Crispy Lomo. Serve immediately.

Mixed Mushrooms

Makes enough for 1-2 pizzas

2 cups mixed mushrooms, sliced (see Note)

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 sprig thyme

1 large garlic clove, peeled and crushed

Salt and pepper, to taste

Make sure all mushrooms are sliced into similarly sized pieces, about ¼ inch thick.

Saute the mushrooms with a little salt and pepper, thyme and the crushed garlic clove until completely tender and a little browned. When cooked, they will yield less than a cup. Set aside and let cool to room temperature.

Note: Best said he prefers to use a mix of different mushrooms, for texture and flavor. Some favorites are crimini, oyster, miatake and shiitake.

Porcini-Truffle Crema

Makes enough for 1-2 pizzas

2 tablespoons butter

½ cup porcini mushroom, sliced

¼ cup shallot, sliced

1 teaspoon thyme leaves, picked

¼ cup brandy

1 tablespoon black truffle peelings

¼ cup crème fraîche

½ cup heavy cream

Salt and pepper, to taste

Heat butter in saute pan over medium heat. Add mushrooms, shallot and thyme. Add a pinch of salt and saute until very tender and liquid has evaporated (about 10 minutes). Carefully add brandy to pan and ignite with a match or, if using a gas stove, gently tilt the pan until the brandy ignites. Cook until flames subside and liquid has evaporated.

Transfer cooked ingredients to a blender and add truffle peelings. Blend until completely smooth. Transfer to a mixing bowl and whisk in the crème fraîche, then the cream. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Reserve until ready to use.

Sauce is easiest to spread on pizza when it’s at room temperature, so if you’re making the sauce a day ahead, remove it from the fridge and allow to warm before using.

Crispy Shallots

Makes enough for 2-3 pizzas

2-3 shallots, peeled and whole

1 cup flour, plus more as needed

2 quarts grapeseed oil (for frying)

Salt

Add the oil to a thick-bottom sauce pot or stock pot so the oil does not come more than halfway up the sides. The pot should be taller than it is wide. A 4- to 5-quart sauce pot works well.

Set the pot over medium heat and heat oil to 275 degrees. Use a thermometer that can measure this hot to ensure temperature is accurate. Adjust heat as needed to maintain this temperature.

While oil is heating, slice the shallots about ⅛ inch thick. A mandoline is best to ensure even thickness, which will promote even cooking. You can slice the shallots by hand with a sharp knife; just be sure to keep the slices as even as possible.

Transfer the sliced shallots to a mixing bowl and add the flour. Gently separate the shallot slices into rings while simultaneously coating the rings in flour. This will take a few minutes. If the shallots are particularly wet, you may need to add a little more flour to prevent the rings from sticking and the flour from clumping. When finished, there should be some excess flour at the bottom of the bowl and all shallot rings should be lightly but evenly coated in flour.

Put the floured shallot rings into a colander or strainer and shake off the excess flour. Carefully add the shallots to the heated oil. The oil will bubble a little; this is why the pot should have plenty of extra room above the surface of the oil.

Stir gently and regularly to prevent the shallots from sticking and to ensure they cook evenly. It will take about 5 minutes for the shallots to become golden brown and for most of the bubbling to subside. At this point, carefully remove the shallots from the oil with a slotted spoon or strainer and transfer to a tray lined with paper towels. Immediately season the shallots evenly with salt. Allow the shallots to cool to room temperature and transfer to an airtight container if not using within a few hours. Shallots can stay crispy for several days.

Crispy Lomo

Makes enough for 2-3 pizzas

12-15 slices pork lomo, sliced very thin (or prosciutto or other cured whole-muscle pork, see Note)

1 quart grapeseed oil (for frying, can use same oil as for shallots)

Heat oil in a thick-bottomed saucepot to 325 degrees (see directions in preceding recipe on frying in sauce pot).

When the oil is hot, drop the separated slices of lomo into the oil and cook until crispy (about 30 to 45 seconds). This process will happen much faster than the shallots due to the low moisture content of the cured pork.

Transfer crispy lomo to a paper towel-lined tray and allow to cool. Can store in an airtight container for several days if not using the same day.

Note: Lomo is a cured pork loin that is relatively lean and often has a “fat cap” on one side.

Broccolini Pizza

Makes two 12-inch pizzas

2 10-ounce pizza dough balls

For the sauce

2 yellow onions (about 13 ounces)

1 tablespoon olive oil, plus more to finish

1 teaspoon kosher salt, divided

3 tablespoons Calabrian chile

¼ cup crème fraîche or sour cream

⅔ cup heavy cream

For the toppings

1 cup sauce

2 bunches broccolini

2 tablespoons preserved lemon rind, sliced thinly

⅔ cup feta cheese

¼ cup Parmesan cheese

¼ cup sliced scallions

2 teaspoons fleur de sel

2 tablespoons olive oil

Blanch broccolini in boiling salted water for 1 minute. Shock in ice water. Drain, pat dry and cut into 1-inch pieces.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Peel, halve and slice the onions into ¾-inch slices. Toss onions with the oil and salt and spread onto a sheet tray. Roast onions about 25 minutes until tender, stirring periodically to prevent edges from burning (some charring on edges is good). Blend onions and calabrian chiles in blender until smooth. Transfer to a mixing bowl and whisk in the crème fraîche and heavy cream (blending the cream can cause the sauce to separate). Add more salt, to taste.

To assemble, stretch a ball of pizza dough to 12 inches and cover evenly with the sauce. Top with blanched broccolini, preserved lemon, feta cheese and Parmesan cheese. Drizzle with a little olive oil. Bake in a 500-degree oven on a pizza stone for about 8 to 10 minutes, until crust is golden brown and crispy. Top with sliced scallions, fleur de sel and another drizzle of olive oil.