Geometry Pizza

About author / Christine Gable

Culinary enthusiast; kids cuisine and slow cooking; magazine recipe developer; professional writer. Her simple recipes are great for family dinners.

A picture is worth a thousand words. Such a common maxim, eh—and yet one we succumb to while advertising works its magic on us. And food is no exception. Appetizing photos of food can whet our appetite for something that we had not even been thinking of a mere minute earlier.

Sometimes it’s a photo, sometimes a drawing … or in the case of an eloquent food writer, the right words can make our mouths water in anticipation. After all, food is such a necessary and vital part of everyone’s existence that we can’t go through a day without giving it credence every few hours—comfortably go through the day, that is.

Thus was the case recently that my appetite was kicked into gear and I found myself hankering after something in particular—thanks to a picture courtesy of daughter.

It all started when she was experimenting with a compass after some of her 5th grade math geometry lessons. Really, compasses are just cool. And they’re even more fun when you get to play around with them without assignment constraints. You know: those acute, obtuse and right angles. When the freedom ensues for a kid to make circles and designs and explore the abilities of the tool, that’s when magic happens (And we can say much the same in the kitchen, too).

It just so happens that daughter presented me with a picture of a vegetarian pizza that was divided into eight neat compartments. The toppings included asparagus, tofu, mushrooms, peppers and more.

Can’t explain it, but ever since she presented me with that picture, I had a hankering for a vegetable topped pizza. As a change-out from traditional tomato sauce or the common white pizza, I decided to take some inspiration from the top shelf of my refrig. Yes, there sat a partially used container of spaghetti sauce and another of cream of mushroom soup.

Would it make a good pizza sauce? There was only one way to find out. So I stirred together a half-cup each and spread it over the prepared crust. Topped it with some canned, drained asparagus (one half), and canned, drained mushrooms (other half). And then added one bag of shredded mozzarella cheese—and baked it for 15 minutes. It looked and smelled divine, but needed to be a tad more golden. Voila—under the broiler for 3 minutes, and it was perfect.

But would it really taste as good as it looked?

I have to tell you, after finishing it off, we all agreed: this was one pizza variation we’d all be glad to repeat.

Conclusion: It’s a good thing to take inspiration from our kids—especially when it takes the form of adding vegetables to any meal.

So, in honor of daughter’s veggie-inspired pizza, here’s a list of vegetables that you just might want to try spreading under the cheese of your next homemade pie. And if you have a cream-based soup in the house, try mixing it half-and-half with a tomato-based sauce. It’s a winner! (One caution: don’t put more than one cup of sauce on a 14-inch pizza or it will be too soupy and the crust won’t get delightfully crisp.)

Veggie Pizza Toppings:

• Mushrooms – canned or sautéed fresh
• Onions – sautéed fresh with some herbs
• Asparagus – canned or sautéed fresh
• Broccoli – lightly steamed or sautéed
• Cauliflower – lightly steamed or sautéed
• Artichokes – canned
• Olives – black or green

While these are some that would most-appeal to my crew, don’t let that stop you … who knows what cabbage, peas, and green beans could do for the next Italian pie craze!