Who doesn’t love a good pizza?

As the temperature rises to three digits, the LAST thing we need or want is more heat inside our home, especially if we live without air-conditioning. So, rather than heat up the kitchen, I set out a solar oven and cook outdoors with free energy from the sun.

Solar oven cooking is perfect for dishes like casseroles or stews, or even baking cakes and quiches where extra moisture in the oven is an advantage. But what about pizza? If you are like me, you want to avoid a soggy bottom crust. The goal is to have a nicely well-done pizza, browned on top with a crispy crust.

Here is how to do that:

• Preheat the solar oven. Some types of solar ovens can get higher temps. I use the Sun Oven for pizza rather that the standard box cooker. On a hot day, the sun oven can reach almost 400 degrees.
• Pay attention to getting heat to the bottom of the oven, and thus the bottom of the pizza– either with a preheated pizza stone or a rack that lifts the pizza above the bottom of the oven–or both!
• Pre-cook the crust bottom–I will put it directly on on the stove burner for a few seconds before (and even after) cooking it in the solar oven. It is helpful to have a pizza peel for doing this.

• Optional: if you like a crispy top, use a lightweight black lid over the pizza for extra heat on top (see photo below)

A lid that works is the lid from a classic black enamel pot :

The result: a great solar pizza. Enjoy!