The many surprising uses of a pizza oven | Kitchen Aide

From whole fish to biryani and sweet berry galettes, the high heat of an outdoor pizza oven can cook just about anything

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I have just got a pizza oven, but what else can I cook in it?
Sure, Neapolitan pizza and negroni nights are great, but start thinking of your pizza oven as a high-temperature furnace and there will be even more reason to stay outdoors. “I’d lean towards food that you eat charred,” says Naples-trained Kit Delamain of Circus Pizza at Panzer’s Deli in London. That might mean aubergines to blitz into baba ganoush, finishing meat (think lamb) that’s been cooked low and slow “to get that really nice, charred flavour”, or to bake pitta: “They puff up ever so nicely, which is hard to achieve in a normal oven.” The same goes for pillowy naan, adds Arun Tilak, executive chef at Dishoom: “Roll the dough into a round or oval shape, prick lightly with a fork and bake until beautifully golden. Brush with butter and you’re in for a treat.”

Of course, pizza ovens come in different shapes and styles, but, depending on which you have, they can be “really controllable”, says Rachel Jones, founder of ACE Pizza in east London, who recently cooked a whole turbot in hers. “Start with that intense heat, which will blister the skin, before turning it down and leaving the fish to cook through.” That said, you could also have chicken tonight: “Spatchcock a chicken and marinate it in lemon zest, garlic, olive oil, rosemary and salt and pepper for at least an hour,” says Jones, who then pops the bird skin side up in a skillet and into the pizza oven on low, rotating occasionally, until cooked. “While the chicken rests, throw summer veg [courgettes, peppers, tomatoes] into the skillet with olive oil and garlic, and get that pan back in the oven.” Start the flame on high (“to get some nice char”), then turn to low and cook for another 15 minutes: “Serve with a squeeze of lemon, a scatter of fresh herbs, maybe a dollop of yoghurt and some flatbread on the side.”

Got a culinary dilemma? Email feast@theguardian.com