Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

I'm able to operate on two separate, seemingly contradictory planes of pizza existence. On the higher plane, I am a purist, having become a certified Pizza Snob during the time I lived in Italy. Upon my return to NY, I held my nose up at what I once considered a decent pizza and, moreover, I was no longer able to order most pizzas with more than 2 toppings without feeling a bit like a fraud --- as if I were betraying what I had learned in Italy. But, that said, I have had some really tasty unconventional pizzas. I won't compare them to "real" or "pure" pizzas, but that doesn't mean I don't think they aren't good and worth ordering when the mood strikes.

I accept that there is a good measure of hipocrasy to all of this. In Italy I had some pizzas with a number of toppings. The best had a fried egg and sausage on it, along with a couple of other items (not a lot of them but there were certainly more than two toppings). The egg yolk would run all over the pizza. It was awesome. Maybe the Pizza Snob in me is more willing to accept this sort of a thing in Italy (where I think they can do anything they want and pull it off at most places) but is extremely skeptical of it here (where I think that very few places can pull off a decent margherita, much less a more "complicated" pie).

I'm in NYC area and hate to be contrarian but have to disagree that the best pizza in the country has to be NY pizza, as someone posted. My time living in Italy spoiled me badly and made a total pizza snob but I think very few places in the country -- including NY -- have decent pizza in the classical sense. I like a good deep dish chicago pie once in a while but won't call it real pizza, even though it is tasty. I think that what we consider to be an average pizza is basically dog food in comparison to an average pizza in Italy. Coffee too but that's another story and likely to generate less controversy. So while I think that pizza like this is pretty easy to find most places in Italy, in NY, I like Grimaldi's and Patsi's (only a few of the locations are good, others suck). I don't care for John's much -- it's ok but overrated.

I know, I know, I'm taking a dump on America's favorite dish, but come on. Most of it is garbage compared to what it could and should be.

Wow. Looks great. Must add that Anya Von Bremzen's articles and books are pretty much THE BEST.

In no particular order, as a result of a recent infatuation with Spanish foods (not that these are all uniquely Spanish): (1) high quality achovies (the ones I tried from the Cantabrian sea were spectacular), (2) Urgelia cheese and (3) caper berries.

Drinking Coors over Dogfish Head isn't just unpatriotic, it's sacriligious. [Cringes]

I will be trying this tonight, no doubt. Though there is something about all that green that has me dying to find a way to toss in some tomato. Maybe a side... We'll see. Anyway, thanks for this. Looks great, as with the last 2.

@Kaneez - I would personally try some turkey bacon (not too lean, if possible) and a splash of olive oil. Cook for only a minute or so before adding the veggies. I defer to the author, though.

Great feature and a great recipe -- I just tried this, with the addition of some peas and garlic to the main dish and some fried garlic and chanterelles with the shallots, for chickpeas (obviously this is a little pricier). I also substituted bacon for the salt pork. Fantastic --- lots of room to experiment with this one. Thank you -- looking forward to the next installment.