 Yes, the most popular pizza nationwide is pepperoni. But one day, it will happen. You’ll be hosting a pizza night, and you’ll have to step away from the pepperoni because you’ve done the unthinkable: invited a vegetarian to your dinner table. This is so not a problem, especially with pizza. It just requires that you pack away your pork-product love for an evening and figure out how to walk without your cured-meat crutch. And it helps to start thinking about the flavors a meat lover really loves about meat, and how can you possibly replicate that—or distract from it entirely. What to do?
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 You’re making a great pepperoni pizza at home. That’s done. Now, how do you start branching out and making a pizza nobody has ever made before? Easy. Just figure it out. It’s actually fun. It’s a mental exercise in the behavior of all the components—your dough, its transformation into crust, sauce, cheese, and individual toppings. How do they behave? How is each component determined to undermine your success? Or how does each one wish to cooperate? The unusual pizzas I’ve made this way include the Clam Chowder Pizza, the subsequent Deconstructed Clam Chowder Pizza, the Gumbo Pizza, the Chicken, Shrimp and Andouille Étouffée Pizza, the Shrimp & Garlic Pizza, and a whole series of pizzas with non-traditional toppings that just weren’t very difficult. They were more surprising to people than anything.  Are you at all creative and experimental in the kitchen? If so, it doesn’t take long for you to start thinking about what interesting new pizzas you want to create. There’s a game to play here. I’m not sure you’ll want to play along. There is danger ahead. Have you ever considered a pizza with roast pork, or gravied ground beef, or shrimp, or fresh corn, or lobster or oysters? Do those possibilities make you wonder what the hell is wrong with me? Would you believe they’re not my ideas? (Well, not most of them.) Would understanding where these pizza ideas come from lead you to a “crazy-idea pizza” of your own that represents your own stomping grounds? You might be surprised.  I hold an unpopular opinion in the world of pizza: the fabled pizza Margherita is overrated. Why am I willing to court potential violence against my person for my public opinion on a controversial subject almost as polarizing as Donald vs. Kamala or boxers vs briefs? Because I’m a glutton for punishment and I haven’t been kicked in the head enough lately. Just kidding. I’ve never been kicked in the head (though I have come close). My opinions about the Margherita are based in both historical fact and personal experience—and there’s an equally traditional pizza that I believe is far better. Papa‘s Tomato Pies: a slice of pizza Americana greatness in world-famous Robbinsville New Jersey8/3/2024  Robbinsville is not on your radar. You’ve never been there. And if you go there, there’s no reason to look at that little shopping center off Main Street and say, “Oh, yeah! There’s some amazing pizza in there!“ But there it is: Papa’s Tomato Pies. Crunchy, crispy, cheese and tomato goodness. And yes, it’s in New Jersey. |
AuthorBlaine Parker is the award-winning author of the bestselling, unusual and amusing how-to pizza book, Free The Pizza. Also known as The Pizza Geek and "Hey, Pizza Man!", Blaine is fanatical about the idea that true, pro-quality pizza can be made at home. His home. Your home. Anyone's home. After 20 years of honing his craft and making pizza in standard consumer ovens across the nation, he's sharing what he's learned with home cooks like you. Are you ready to pizza? Archives
August 2024
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