September was packed into lunch boxes, gone now. Traces remain like orange peels on the soccer field after a weekend game, with a hunger for the cozy pace of fall to take hold. There is nothing more synonymous with that feeling – togetherness of loved ones combined with a kind of goodness that is most special because it is common— than gathering around a pizza. Pizza – or rather, pizza nights – feel like the expression of fall where we are now, when the wildness of September has dipped below the horizon and the nights are growing longer, begging for ritual and predictability and the celebration of small things.
The Wright Recipes could be referenced as a kind of diary of my life through pizza, beginning with the dozens of pies I slung from my Brooklyn oven for our family of friends on my husband Garth’s final day of his first year of law school in the form of a pizza party, using what I claimed to be The Best Pizza Dough. (That I used to the hilt over the few years that followed to make Zucchini Pizza with Olive Vinaigrette, Three Onion Pizza, Summer Tomato and Fresh Chili Pizza, Ricotta, Garlic and Asparagus Pizza, Grilled Turkey Sausage and Pepper Pizza, Speck and Arugula Pizza, Alsatian Bacon and Egg Tart, and Mussel Pizza Bianco. More than a mouthful of pizza, needless to say.) More recently, I made and lived by this Cauliflower Pizza Crust. Then, I gave way to nostalgia to make my Wright Family Pizza that reminded me of the vast, cushiony-yet-crisp Sicilian slab pies from the depths of Brooklyn.
I don’t just write about pizza parties, mind you: I’ve also made sauces I can use as flavorful bases for pizza, like this Arugula Pesto or Marinara … or things I scatter on top of pizza, like this Hot and Sweet Peperonata, this Spicy Marinated Kale, or this Fresh Chili Oil. (Or skip a recipe entirely and drizzle your pie with balsamic and call it a day.) For a quick and simple salad to go with pizza, this Caesar Salad is hard to argue with; so is this more adventurous warm mushroom salad. Any simple steamed veg (broccoli in our house), drizzled in this Basil-Walnut Vinaigrette rounds out a plate of pizza just fine.
Aside from all things pizza – maybe you are a devotee of a pizzaiolo in your neighborhood, and serve yours straight from the box, no judgment – this time of year calls pumpkin to mind. Right now, pumpkins are springing forth everywhere from inside coffee cups and baked goods to the soup pot. For the sweet side of pumpkin season, I offer you my Pumpkin Coconut Cream Tart, my Pumpkin Cheesecake, or my Pumpkin Whoopie Pies. For pumpkin purists in search of savory fare, look to my Sugar Pumpkin Lasagna, my Pumpkin Mole Enchiladas, or my Parsi Pumpkin and Bean Stew. (Don’t forget Sweet and Salty Pumpkin Seeds, a bonus recipe from what would otherwise be shoveled into the compost bin!)
In keeping with my #pizzamood, I devoured the Chef’s Table: Pizza on Netflix and recommend you do the same. Or maybe you followed the controversy surrounding Drew Barrymore and some sort of pizza-salad ritual of hers? As you can tell, I’m not one to shame out-of-the-box pizza obsessions. For those pumpkin purists among you, you may love seeing these gorgeous photos of wild pumpkins harvested for traditional musical instruments in India, this cinematic video of wild pumpkins being harvested and cooked in China, or consider pumpkins used in fine art. Or, if you’re like me and long for a trashy PSL this time of year, you might delight in this deep-dive into Tom Hank’s SNL character David S. Pumpkins. Who can choose between sweet or savory, anyway? Both are delicious!
This weekend I plan to make my favorite pizza dough, the key to how we do pizza night now, for my family as we watch a movie, a special treat on all accounts. (Maybe yours holds plans for a pumpkin cheesecake, lucky you). For paid subscribers, I’m honored to share my current iteration of my family’s recipe with you as thanks for following here. To all, see you next month! Let me know what ends up making it on your table by responding to this email or by finding me via Caroline Wright Books out in the world or online. I hope your October ahead is full of the deliciousness of fall, from pizza to pumpkins and everything in between.
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