The Pizza Palate Expansion Project

Of the few dishes universally beloved by children, pizza is perhaps the most powerful of all. Exploit the inborn penchant for pizza, and take your kids palates where they’ve never been before by substituting more adventurous toppings here and there: garlicky eggplant instead of sausage. Pancetta for pepperoni. Sage for basil.

This pizza is savory. Literally. I made it with a ton of the herb called savory (kind of like marjoram sort of like oregano a bit like tarragon), along with some cherry tomatoes (despite global warming there are sadly no more heirlooms to be found in the markets this time of year) and cheese. Not much else. Just a 450 degree oven, some premade Trader Joe’s Pizza dough, and olive oil on the pan.

-premade pizza dough (or make it yourself, like my enterprising wife does out of Alice Waters’ Fanny at Chez Panisse)
-a couple cups pregrated mozz or quattro formaggio or whatever cheese you/the kids like
-olive oil
-three tablespoons fresh savory (or oregano or marjoram or whatever fresh herb you want to introduce your children to), plucked off the stem
-one cup cherry tomatoes, sliced in half, place cut side up on pizza

Set up the dough according the package (or your favorite recipe), top it off, and bake it at 450 until golden and bubbly, which takes about 25 minutes (i let my pizza dough relax at room temperature for a while, then stretch it out over an olive-oiled sheet pan). Serve (watch out: those tomatoes are lethally hot at first)

—Hugh

Comments

[Dr. Pugawug]

Our favorite TJ's (or Vicolo) premade cornmeal crust pizza:
- tomato sauce (preferably made by grandpa)
- roasted frozen corn from TJs
- crumbled bacon
- fresh pineapple (or frozen, in a pinch)
- quattro fromaggio

Not sure who likes it more, the kid or the grownups. But we rarely have leftovers.

[lizelle]

Sometimes I forget to think simple - and, simple is usually delicious. Thanks for the pizza recipe / ideas for the little ones as well as mum & dad.