The Communal Oven
by Claire Varty
THIS PIECE WAS FIRST PUBLISHED IN PRINT IN DECEMBER 2020, IN ISSUE TWO
During the summer of 2018, my father, the handyman that he is, decided to build himself a wood-fired oven in our backyard. He’s always loved completing projects of the sort, having done most of the renovations in our home. This hobby gave him the opportunity to be active and once finished, the opportunity to get creative with his cooking. Building his chef’s dream allowed his food visions to come to light. After about a month of hard work every weekend and enough money spent to purchase a pre-made one, his baby was done. Now, he spends his summer evenings sitting in front of the roaring fire, reading a book with a beer or a glass of wine—his own personal paradise.
The oven has long been the symbolic heart of the home, bringing together friends and families for generations, providing warmth and sustenance. Before the oven, our distant ancestors gathered around fires. In medieval times, the oven evolved to become the centre of villages and communities. Roaring flames and burning coals baked the villager’s bread as they gathered, discussing the latest town gossip, with everyone carving a different symbol into their dough to distinguish which loaf belonged to which family. At times, feudal lords would charge them to use the oven on a special day every week.
It’s no surprise that my dad’s oven has become the heart of all of our gatherings. Every summer weekend the smell of burning wood wafts through our neighbourhood, bringing us together as a family as we sit down to discuss our weeks and break bread over the freshly made pizzas or whatever my father decides to whip up.
Our oven has become the community’s oven. It has strengthened the bond between my father and our long-time neighbour Tony, an Italian man in his fifties. Our backyards are separated by a waist-high chicken wire fence. Tony, a government custodian, also has a love for cooking and joins my father in setting up the firewood, cooking various meals, all while having a cold beer together. My father even built a little door in our fence so that Tony can come and go easily to use the oven.
The feelings of community that this oven brings forth are priceless. It’s allowed my family to connect not only with each other but with both our neighbours and friends. This experience has taught me the importance of bringing the power of cooking and food back to the communal and local settings because it strengthens us as a whole and allows us to come together as humans. My father didn’t set out for this to happen when building it. He just wanted a project that bridged his love of cooking and being crafty, but what happened was even more beautiful, enabling us to come together like our villager ancestors or the cave people before us.
The following recipe was birthed through this communal rekindling process and has now become a staple in our family whenever the wood is burning. Share the joys of fostering community and cook this for your friends and family!
The author’s father.
King Kale Recipe
Makes 5 pizzas
Ingredients
Toppings
250 ml Alfredo Sauce (As Barefoot Contessa would say: if you don’t have your own milking cow to make cream and cheese, store-bought is just fine)
200g of Blue Cheese
2 Medium Red Onion
2 Tbsp Brown Sugar
5 Tbsp Balsamic Glaze
1 Pear
1 Bunch of Kale
(If you want meat, Prosciutto)
1 Tbsp Olive Oil
¼ cup of Butter
Salt (To taste)
Pepper (To taste)
Dough
500 ml of warm water (Body temperature)
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp dry active yeast
750 g Bread flour (or All-Purpose)
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp Olive oil
Preparation
Mix yeast with water and sugar, let the yeast activate for 3 – 5 minutes.
Mix in 90% of the flour with the salt and olive oil.
Add the rest of the flour kneading by hand for about 6 - 8 minutes (work those forearms).
Shape into a ball and rest covered for 1 hour.
While the dough is resting, prep the toppings.
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F with your pizza stone for 15 minutes longer after oven temperature is reached (if you do not have a pizza stone, improvise with a baking tray, or cast-iron skillet).
Slice the onions in half, and then slice each half into strips.
Heat butter in a pan until melted and almost bubbling and add onions and brown sugar, stirring to coat everything.
Cover, stirring occasionally for 10 minutes on medium heat until caramelized and set aside.
Clean and chop the bunch of kale, then massage with olive oil, salt and pepper, leave off to the side in a bowl (or in the fridge).
Thinly slice the pear.
Crumble the blue cheese and set aside in a bowl.
Once the dough is ready
Cut and shape into 250 g balls. Use in 30 – 60 min or it can be refrigerated, take out 1 hour before using.
Flour surface substantially, take the cut dough and press it out with your fingertips to stretch into a circle, if you would like to, use a rolling pin.
Spoon about 50 ml of alfredo on the dough right to the edges of the pizza.
Crumble about 40 g of blue cheese on top.
Evenly distribute about ¼ of the caramelized onions around the dough.
Sprinkle kale as desired and top with sliced pear and prosciutto, if you would like meat.
Cook on the pizza stone in the oven for 12 minutes (play around with temperature and time based on how your oven works and what base you are using).
Transfer the pizza onto a cutting board with a pizza peel and drizzle with a tablespoon of Balsamic Glaze before cutting into slices.
Serve, enjoy and repeat!