{"id":44878,"date":"2022-10-27T16:33:23","date_gmt":"2022-10-27T20:33:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/?p=44878"},"modified":"2022-11-08T09:21:01","modified_gmt":"2022-11-08T14:21:01","slug":"for-locally-sourced-pizza-head-to-a-farm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/for-locally-sourced-pizza-head-to-a-farm\/","title":{"rendered":"For Locally Sourced Pizza, Head To A Farm"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Written by Kristine Hansen<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Photos courtesy of Millsap Farms<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s no secret that autumn is harvest time for vegetables. But in Wisconsin and other states where farming is a way of life, it\u2019s also when some farms host pizza nights where ingredients, including cheese, and even the flour to make the pizza dough is sourced from the farm or nearby.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The concept of a pizza farm first popped up in Wisconsin about 15 years ago, and now there are just under 10 farms hosting pizza nights in the Dairy State. Other states have also adopted the concept, which provides pizza- and cheese-lovers a pastoral environment, often with live music, outdoor games and craft beverages (also locally derived) for a fun night out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The cheeses on these pizzas are often hard to find at a local cheese shop or grocer as it\u2019s the result of the farm forging a relationship with the creamery, and that they are in small quantity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Curtis Millsap\u2014co-owner with his wife, Sarah, of Millsap Farms<\/a> in Springfield, Missouri\u2014is nearly apologetic about how he isn\u2019t making his own cheese. Instead, he sources feta and ch\u00e8vre from Terrell Creek Farm, 40 miles away in Fordland, Missouri, and blends it with mozzarella for a unique flavor. \u201cThey\u2019re long-time friends. We\u2019ve been using their cheese since we started pizza nights in 2013,\u201d he says. Organic vegetables harvested from the farm are also woven into the pizza recipes, such as on the \u201cSaved from the Freeze\u201d pizza where bell peppers, herbs and green tomatoes are\u2014as the name suggests\u2014used while fresh, instead of popping into the freezer. Cooking pizzas at 800\u00b0F in a New Mexico-style Horno wood-fired earthen oven results in a pie with a perfectly crisp crust and molten cheese.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Each pizza takes only three minutes to cook and four different varieties are served buffet-style in the open air. The Millsaps have streamlined the process for members of their Pizza Club so no one has to wait too long for their pizza. Membership consists of signing up for one pizza night, with the first dollar going towards the fee. Guests bring blankets to cozy up with and create an impromptu picnic as tables often fill up fast. Outdoor games like soccer and tetherball are kid-friendly. On the stage, bands perform rock covers and songs with a more chill singer-songwriter vibe. Also, bring-your-own beverages ensures everyone has their preferred vice. \u201cGenerally, we have a sold-out crowd,\u201d says Millsap.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the certified-organic Stoney Acres Farm<\/a> in Athens, Wisconsin, owner Tony Schultz is a true pizza-farm veteran, now in his twelfth season. \u201cThe theme of my pizza farm is local,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s locally intense.\u201d To that end, the cheese for the pizza\u2014high-moisture mozzarella\u2014comes from Nasonville Dairy<\/a> in Marshfield, which been in business since 1855.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s cheese from my neighbors,\u201d says Schultz. \u201cEverything comes from the farm except for the cheese. It\u2019s not organic but I\u2019d rather have the most local cheese from my neighbors.\u201d And given that it\u2019s only up the road, that cheese can\u2019t come from any closer. Occasionally he\u2019ll turn to cheeses from other Wisconsin creameries, such as BelGioioso Cheese<\/a>\u2019s fresh mozzarella, LaClare Creamery<\/a>\u2019s ch\u00e8vre or Carr Valley Cheese<\/a>\u2019s blue cheese, which is a key ingredient for the \u201cSauceSquash\u201d pizza. On that pizza, the sauce is a butternut-squash base, not tomato, and toppings include onion and flecked ham. Like Schultz, who is the third-generation owner of his farm, all three of these creameries are family-owned businesses that have employed multiple generations over the years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The reason Stoney Acres Farm is \u201cintensely local\u201d is because more than the pizza\u2019s toppings come from the farm. Also on site is Stoney Acres Brewery, now in its fifth year, which brews \u201ceverything from a light lager to saison [beers] to sours to IPAs,\u201d says Schultz. A beer hall with indoor seating for 170 people provides a festive spot to sample them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pizza nights also give visitors a view into farm life. \u201cThis is a working farm,\u201d Schultz says. \u201cMost of the week I\u2019m raising vegetables and pigs. There are chickens walking through the yard and cows are grazing. I\u2019m [actually] making pizza sauce right now.\u201d Of the farm\u2019s 120 pigs, about 90 of them provide pepperoni, sausage, and ham for the pizzas. Schultz\u2019s \u201csecret sauce\u201d for the sausage is flavoring it with fennel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, when hosting people at the farm became limited, Schultz launched a line of frozen pizzas sold through the farm and at local retailers. These also are topped with Wisconsin cheese.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Red Barn Farm<\/a> in Northfield, Minnesota, is another pizza farm that ticks all the boxes in offering a local experience. All pizzas are topped with parmesan and mozzarella cheese. On occasion Shepherd\u2019s Way Farms<\/a> Big Woods Blue is used, sourced from the nearby sheep\u2019s-milk creamery. That cheese took a first-place award at the American Cheese Society\u2019s 2017 conference. \u201cWe grow our own veggies, primarily tomatoes, bell peppers, jalapeno peppers, onions and basil and other veggies, that may fit into a fun Pizza of the Week. We [also] use pork sausage from Nerstrand Meats in nearby Nerstrand,\u201d says owner Tammy Winter. Live music rounds out the fun on many Wednesdays and guests can hang with \u201ctwo rescue horses and many chickens,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are twists to the pizzas at Red Barn Farm you\u2019re not likely to find on any pizzeria\u2019s menu, such as sauerkraut\u2014an ingredient that\u2019s a huge hit in the Upper Midwest\u2014on the \u201cSour Pig,\u201d along with olive oil, sausage, and onions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Not far from there, Luna Valley Farm<\/a> in Decorah, Iowa, is a certified-organic, regenerative farming operation opening their veritable doors to pizza lovers on Friday and Saturday nights. Pizzas are baked in a wood-fired oven. Not ready to go home? The farm recently began hosting guests overnight in its two glamping tents. \u201cAll of our fresh mozzarella is BelGioioso<\/a> which isn’t super local to us but is from Wisconsin,\u201d says owner Maren Beard. \u201cWe also occasionally use Montchevre<\/a> Goat Cheese Crumbles on a few of our pizzas.\u201d That cheese is also from the neighboring state of Wisconsin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe raise a few pigs and use all of our own Italian sausage on pizza,\u201d says Beard. \u201cWe also use our Canadian bacon and have occasionally put carnitas on a pizza, which we make from our pork shoulders.\u201d Another ingredient in their culinary wheelhouse is grass-fed finished lamb. Pepperoni comes from Driftless Provisions in nearby Viroqua, Wisconsin. And the vegetable toppings are anything but typical. Instead, butternut squash and kale from their own garden are joined with ingredients such as shiitake mushrooms, jalapenos, pears, honey, and pea shoots from neighboring farms, creating a full roster of toppings choices that invite nearly an endless variety of combinations. Pizza ingredients rotate with the seasons, such as\u2014in August\u2014sweet corn, tomatoes, jalapenos and their Italian sausage atop cilantro cr\u00e8ma. In addition, the Beards recently started pouring wines that are not from California or Europe but from the Midwest, working with the American Wine Project in Mineral Point, Wisconsin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some farms will even go so far as to make their own dough from grains grown on site. This is the case at Stoney Acres Farm\u2014which harvests its whole organic spring wheat\u2014and also Full Belly Farm<\/a>, a certified-organic farm in Guinda, California. That farm even makes its own ice cream and serves it during pizza nights\u2014a sweet match with a farm-made pizza. At 9 Miles East Farm<\/a> in Saratoga Springs, New York, the pizza crust is born out of sourdough slow-fermented on the farm for three days and folds in flour from Farmer Ground Flour. Next, it\u2019s topped with cheese crafted in Central New York, not far from the farm, and the sauce made from the farm\u2019s tomatoes that are first roasted and then turned into sauce.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whether it\u2019s the tomato sauce, the cheese, or other toppings, these pizza nights are showcases of what\u2019s grown locally. \u201cOne of my favorite things about doing pizza nights is having the opportunity to highlight ingredients grown on our farm and on other local farms,\u201d says Beard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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IF YOU GO: Where to find pizza on the farm<\/h2>\n\n\n\n