How many weeks ahead should we book for a May communion?

The communion weekends in Nijlen and the surrounding area largely coincide, so those dates fill up fast. We advise sending your request as soon as the date of the ceremony is fixed, preferably a few months ahead.

Do children actually like Neapolitan pizza?

Usually very much. We always bake a few simple flavours such as margherita, with tomato sauce and mozzarella. The thin base with its airy rim is lighter than a classic frozen pizza, so even small eaters get on well with it.

Can the oven go in a narrow back garden in the centre of Nijlen?

If there is a level area of three by three metres and a 2.5-metre passage, that works. Should the garden be reachable only via the house, we search for another option with you, say the driveway with the tent alongside.

Can we also arrange an aperitif for the adults?

Certainly. The aperitivo consists of antipasti, focaccia from the wood-fired oven and bruschetta. We can also pour Aperol, limoncello and Italian wines, while the children get something soft.

What about allergies in the family?

Let us know beforehand. You receive an allergen list and we prepare gluten-free or vegan pizzas in a separate zone, with their own utensils, so there is no cross-contamination with the regular dough.

Pizza catering in Nijlen, Kessel and Bevel

In Nijlen, Kessel and Bevel almost every May weekend has a party tent somewhere for a First Communion or lentefeest. With our pizza catering, the wood-fired oven becomes the spot where the children linger and the grown-ups happily pull up a chair.

Kids can watch

The oven is open and visible. Children see a ball of dough turn into a pizza in ninety seconds, and that keeps them at the table longer than a bouncy castle.

One party, three generations

A margherita for the communicant, something spicier for the uncles and a vegetarian round for anyone who wants it. Everyone eats from the same rounds.

Tiramisu to finish

With the full experience the party ends with dolci. Tiramisu and cannoli are small enough to eat between the congratulations.

How a communion party with pizza unfolds

After Mass at the parish church the family usually arrives around noon or in the early afternoon. By then the oven is already at temperature. A glass of bubbles or an alcohol-free spritz for the children, some focaccia and bruschetta, and the guest of honour can open presents in peace while the first pizzas go in.

We bake in rounds. Each round brings two or three flavours, cut into pieces, so the table keeps changing. Children dash off to play and drift back once hunger strikes. Grandparents stay seated and get their slice at the table. There is no buffet queue and nobody has to wait for the right moment.

Parties in the gardens of a close-knit village

What is typical of Nijlen is that parties happen at home. You see few big halls and many back gardens with a neighbour’s tent, a row of borrowed benches and a car park that is really the verge of the street. That simplicity suits a wood-fired oven: it asks for little more than a level corner of lawn where a four-by-four tent fits.

In Kessel and Bevel the plots are often larger, with a meadow behind the house or an old farm with a yard. There the oven can stand further from the house, which helps with the smoke. Closer to the Kleine Nete the ground can still be wet in spring; with a few photos beforehand we find the best spot.

What you sort out with us beforehand

Send us the date, the address, the expected number of guests and tell us whether it is a communion, lentefeest or birthday. You receive a proposal with the menu and practical arrangements. A communion party with forty guests is perfectly doable with one oven; even with a hundred and fifty people, one baking station is enough.

Do think about dietary needs in the family. We always bake a vegetarian round. If a cousin or grandad asks for gluten-free or vegan, we make those pizzas to order, kept apart from the regular dough. That way a child with an allergy does not have to sit to one side with a separate plate.