Hosting a Farm-to-Table Dinner with an Outdoor Oven
Farm-to-table meals are a fun, engaging way to enjoy seasonal produce and locally procured foods with family and friends.
They’re even better with a wood-fired or hybrid outdoor oven. Modern outdoor pizza ovens are incredibly versatile—use them to cook roasts, bake up bubbling casseroles, and roast vegetables to perfection.
You don’t need to have a farm or even a vegetable garden to throw a farm-to-table party. But if you grow your own produce, a farm-to-table meal can be even more meaningful—it’s a beautiful way to appreciate the bounty of your garden with your favorite people.
Ahead we’ll offer tips and advice for hosting a farm-to-table dinner party, lunch, or brunch. And keep in mind that you can prepare most of the dishes we mention below in your Fontana Forni outdoor oven!
Use produce from your garden or farm.
If you grow your own produce or raise your own meat and eggs, a farm-to-table dinner party is the perfect opportunity to showcase your hard work and the bounty of your farm or garden. Even if you only have a small herb garden or a few tomato and squash plants out back, you can use these things as a springboard for your meal.
For example, you might make a caprese salad with plum tomatoes and basil harvested from your garden, with fresh mozzarella and gourmet balsamic vinegar procured from your local Italian specialty shop. Or, if you grow eggplant, you might make a mouthwatering dish like Torrette di Melanzane, prepared with eggplant, fresh tomatoes, and basil from the garden.
Create interactive cooking experiences.
No farm-to-table party would be complete without delicious gourmet pizza. Why not make it an interactive experience by encouraging guests to create their own pie?
Set up a toppings station with kid-favorite classics like mushrooms, tomato slices, pepperoni, bell peppers, black olives, and mushrooms, along with more elegant toppings like prosciutto and arugula, caramelized onions and goat cheese, and burrata cheese with fresh basil.
Let the kids (and the adults) build their own pizza. Prepare the sauce and dough from scratch in advance with these recipes:
Your guests will love gathering around your outdoor oven and seeing their pizzas cook to perfection in just minutes.
Keep the décor simple.
Forget about fussy decorations and fancy silverware. The beauty of farm-to-table parties is their focus on rustic simplicity. Keep things simple with large linen napkins, mason jar water glasses, stemless wine glasses, and farmhouse-inspired cutlery, plates, and bowls.
Opt for earthy table displays that highlight nature—think seasonal wildflower bouquets in vintage milk jugs as vases, and rustic lanterns with kid-safe flameless candles. If you’re not sure how to set the table, visit your local farmers market, where vendors often sell locally made crafts and décor items.
Here are some other décor ideas:
- Mason jars with wildflowers or herbs (like rosemary or basil)
- Candles in small terracotta pots
- Place cards tied to sprigs of thyme or lavender
- Bowls of farm-fresh eggs as centerpieces
- Small potted plants or succulents guests can take home
- Seasonal vegetable arrangements (artichokes, radishes, greens)
Don’t forget seasonings and condiments. Make sure your table has quality balsamic vinegar and extra virgin olive oil and pinch bowls/shaker bottles of sea salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes.
Prep meals ahead of time.
It’s an unfortunate reality that as the dinner party host you’re probably going to spend a good portion of the night cooking, unless you hire a private chef or cooking team. But you can spend more time with your guests by doing much of the prep work before your guests arrive.
Here are some tips:
- Wash and chop produce beforehand.
- Make dressings/vinaigrettes in advance; fresh dressings will keep for up to a week in the refrigerator.
- Cook grains like quinoa, barley, and farro that morning or the night before; refrigerate promptly after cooking.
- Have a charcuterie board ready for guests when they arrive.
- Use a few store-bought items to save time (not everything on the table needs to be farm-to-table).
Highlight local farmers.
If you’ll be procuring food from your local farmers market, it’s a great opportunity to get to know local farmers in your area and how they operate. Some farms even offer tours, so consider scheduling a visit before your party.
Here are some questions to ask vendors at the farmers market:
- What growing practices do you use? (organic, regenerative, conventional, etc.)
- Is your farm certified organic, or do you follow organic practices?
- How do you handle soil health and fertility?
- How far is your farm from here?
- Do you raise heirloom varieties or hybrid crops?
- When was this produce harvested?
- Do you grow everything you sell, or do you also source from other farms?
Share what you learn with your party guests to make the meal more interactive. You might even consider making place cards with information about the local farms where you sourced fresh produce, meat, dairy, bread, and eggs for the meal.
Create a seasonal menu.
An authentic farm-to-table meal is all about using in-season ingredients. If you’re planning to harvest all your own food at home, your meal will be seasonal by default. But if you intend to purchase most or all the food you serve, take note of what’s in season at the time of your party.
Try to shop for ingredients at your local farmers market to ensure you’re serving seasonal fare. If that’s not an option and you need to shop at the grocery store for your meal, do some research on what’s in season to stay true to the farm-to-table ethos. Most U.S. supermarkets carry all kinds of fresh fruits and vegetables that aren’t in season locally—think strawberries in December or grapes in May.
Here are some seasonal recipes to try with your outdoor pizza oven:
Spring
Florentine Peas
Artichokes with Tomatoes
Summer
Stuffed Zucchini
Cherry Tomato Flatbread
Fall/Autumn
Pizza Margherita
Risotto with Butternut Squash
Winter
Tuscan Venison Roast
Black Truffle Pizza
Host a Farm-to-Table Meal with a Fontana Forni Outdoor Oven
We hope you’re inspired to host a farm-to-table meal and celebrate the joys of al fresco dining with friends and family. Fontana Forni makes it easy to host a memorable party with the best outdoor pizza ovens on the market today.
Choose from wood-fired or hybrid outdoor ovens that bake up the perfect pizza every time. But don’t stop there. Our ovens are incredibly versatile and energy efficient, cooking up everything from sweetly caramelized vegetables to perfectly seared pork roast.
Shop Fontana Forni’s complete line of outdoor pizza ovens and outdoor cooking equipment and get the party started!
