HALLIE EPHRON: The dog days of summer are here, and who feels like cooking? Not me. So of course I’m ordering takeout, and pizza is always a favorite–year round really, since it’s not something I’m equipped to make at home.
I like a thin crispy crust, straight up with a zesty tomato sauce (not fresh slices, please - too wet and bland) and cheese (mozzarella, parmesan) with lots of oil and seasoned with fresh basil or oregano. A mushroom or two might find its way onto my slice, but no kale or pineapple, please.
I am in mourning because my all time favorite pizza place, two blocks from my house, closed a few years ago (replaced by an Irish pub) and I’m on a fruitless quest ever since to find somewhere that makes pizza their way.
The other day I saw a recipe for pickle pizza, and I thought: Feh!
But apparently I am alone because when I googled “pickle pizza” I got 250K hits. Even Pizza Hut is making Pickle Pizza.
Here’s how they describe it: “crust, sauced with Buttermilk Ranch, and topped with cheese, crispy breaded chicken breast seasoned with a kick of Nashville Hot Seasoning, sliced white onions, and then loaded with spicy dill pickles and a drizzle of Buttermilk Ranch to finish it off.”
I repeat: Feh.
Next thing you know, they’ll be putting sardines and chocolate sauce on pizza.
So how do you like your pizza, and what do you want kept OFF your crust?
RHYS BOWEN: I’m a big fan of veggie pizzas— spinach and mushroom, onion, peppers, olives. ( although probably not broccoli) Husband John has to have chicken bacon ranch. And always thin crust. And never pineapple or pickle!
We also love Trader Joe’s tarte d’Alsace.
JENN McKINLAY: Pizza snob here. New Haven has the best pizza hands down. Back me up, Lucy.
Sally’s Apizza or Pepe’s Pizzeria in Wooster Square - apparently, they’ve been using the same brick ovens since the 1920’s.
When I bartended at Toad’s Place decades ago, Sally’s used to provide the happy hour pizza on Fridays. My fave night to work! Absolute best pizza ever is the white clam pie. Period. Full Stop.
I can’t think of anything I won’t try on a pizza. During Covid, Hub made a cheeseburger pizza that was actually damn good, ground beef, cheese, mustard, ketchup, pickles and all. But I’m still a snob and no one lives up to Sally’s or Pepe’s - and, no, I won’t choose between the two.
DEBORAH CROMBIE: I figure pizza is bread, and you can put pretty much anything on bread. When I'm in England I try to have my favorite pizza from Pizza Express at least once. (Pizza Express is a chain, but nice restaurants, not like US pizza chains.) Pizza of choice is the Padana, a very thin crust with goat's cheese, sweet caramelized onions, spinach, tomato, mozzarella, garlic oil, and red onions.
So good. But it will not fly in my house–Rick only wants marinara sauce and cheese. Sigh.
HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: I could live on pizza. I love it so much. That fragrance of PIZZA! The first cheesy bite. Yum yum yum. With extra oregano. Anyway. NO HAM. NO PINEAPPLE. I mean, not for me, thank you so much.
I love pepperoni and mushrooms. Extra cheese. Veggie, with peppers and onions and mushroom and whatever they put, is fine, but not as transporting as pepperoni. Hamburger and green pepper and mushrooms is delish, too, although I know it sounds iffy. It's all about fabulous mozzarella and chewy crust and oregano. Now I am SO hungry.
I'm interested, Debs, in your pizza is bread concept. So I thought—peanut butter on pizza, how about THAT? Ha ha. And then I thought, well, just pb and crust would be pretty good....with maybe, bacon. Oh. I want this.
LUCY BURDETTE: Yes Jenn! New Haven pizza is the absolute best! People stand in line for hours to get seated. I adore pepperoni pizza, nice and crispy, but I will eat a slice of their white clam pizza if someone else orders it.
When I’m making pizza at home, my favorite is BBQ chicken pizza with BBQ sauce on the bottom, then rotisserie or leftover chicken, red onions, cheddar cheese, and topped with cilantro. Mmmmm.
JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: I will cross swords with Hank and say if you don’t like Hawaiian pizza, it’s because you haven’t had really good ham and pineapple on it. It’s one of my faves, along with Greek pizza, which also needs to have good quality ingredients on it.
Probably the best pizza in the greater Portland area is Otto’s, a local chain that makes crust to die for and some truly interesting specialty pies. One of their award-winning combos? Mashed potato, bacon and scallion. I know, the first time I saw it I said, “Are you kidding me?” But it’s amazing, with a blend of textures and and seasonings that are so good.
I’m in the pizza-is-bread column, and the cool thing about all bread products - tortillas, dumplings, baguettes, flat bread - is that eventually, in our country, they’ll get used to hold ingredients the original cultures never would have dreamed of. That’s what makes us great, folks. USA! USA!
HALLIE EPHRON: This is making me very hungry. What about you? Are you eating pizza out or ordering in? What’s on your crust and what had better not be?
