Not every brainchild is going to succeed. I had plenty of fresh zucchini and was looking for ways to integrate it into a pizza. In the past I’ve shaved some onto a pizza as a finisher.. but I wondered how I could find a new use for them. I thought maybe if I fried them like chips I could maybe add a crunchy element to a pizza. However, I couldn’t get the zucchini to be crunchy they were either burned in the oil or soggy.. and when I put them on the pizza they ended up burning. After all that the flavor of the zucchini was almost non existent. Time go back to the zucchini drawing board.

It was the end of summer and there were garden fresh tomatoes everywhere – a perfect opportunity to try to integrate some into a pizza. Since the tomatoes were so sweet I knew I wanted a savory base so I opted for pesto (basil and tomatoes go together forever) to round out the flavors I tried adding dollops of fresh ricotta after the pizza was fired. I wasn’t sure about this one but it turned out amazing – the salty pesto helped cut through the creamy ricotta and the sweet tomato pops brought it all together. The wife asked that I add this one to the regular rotation which I count as a win!

Pretty standard local pizzeria joint meatball pie. Due to a shortage of time, I used frozen premade meatballs for this and some canned sauce. Yes, I know.. but sometimes you want pizza and simply don’t have time to make everything by hand. Now, that being said.. the sauce really tasted like canned sauce so it wasn’t a great experience and the meatballs dried out a bit since they were full of stabilizers and whatnot. Still – I ate a bunch of slices because.. well meatballs.

This one is pretty standard pizzeria fare but one that I haven’t tried before. I cooked up some vodka sauce, used a standard NY pizza dough, finished with dry and fresh mozzarella and a dusting of Sicilian oregano. It was actually really good – the only note I have is the sauce has a ton of cream and cheese in it so next time use a light hand on the cheese to ensure it doesn’t get too heavy.

This idea came from one of the many pizza cookbooks I own (I have a problem) – I tinkered with it a bit but the essentials are thin crust with spicy tomato sauce, chorizo, chunks of fresh mozzarella, and finished with a healthy grating of manchego. It really came together nice – the super thin chorizo I got from the deli crisped up nice and the manchego cheese added a nutty finish that really paired with the spicy pizza. Fired in the Ooni at 750.

I liked this combo – the flavors melded well – I think a good variation would be to replace the chorizo next time with jamon iberico added after the firing (no sense killing the delicate taste by cooking it!)

I’ve always had a special place in my stomach for Pizza Hut Pizza. It was a focal part of my childhood. We’d go a couple of time a month to the one the next town over and get some delicious bread sticks and pizzas with the family and it was always a great time full of laughter and great pizza (I swear to you, in the 80’s the pizza there was fire). Sometimes if there was a wait my brother and I would drop a quarter or two into the ninja turtles game in the lobby until our table is ready. It’s a core memory from my childhood and one I’d like to replicate (food wise at least – I have the ninja turtles game in my arcade cabinet so I can play that whenever I want!)

The problem is Pizza Hut has gone downhill. The last few times I tried the pizza there is was a pan full of disappointment. They changed the dough recipe and the sauce and are using some weird cheese and the entire texture and taste is way off from what it used to be. So that’s why I’m determined to crack the code on replicating that 80’s Pizza Hut pie.

All that being said – this wasn’t it. I mean.. it was still a good pizza and the dough was flaky and buttery but the sauce and cheese just didn’t hit like I expected. Time to go back to the drawing board – one day I’ll recreate that 80’s nostalgia bomb – and when I do I’ll fire up a game of ninja turtles first to complete the experience.

This pizza has been in my rotation for a few years. The genesis of it was a bunch of leftover butternut squash mash I made for the baby. I looked at it and said ‘wait, I bet this would be good on a pizza’. Due to the inherent sweetness of the squash I know I needed a bold salty cheese to punch through and balance it out. I had a block of manchego cheese in the fridge – grated it on the squash threw it in the oven and pulled out an amazing pie. Finish it with a drizzle of hot honey and you’ve got Tony’s squash pizza.