Pizza Is What It's All "Crocked" Up To Be

About author / Sarah Christine Bolton

Coffee addict; professional food writer; food fusion. Her slow cooker recipes go above and beyond your normal crockpot fare.

In middle school, I had a friend who lived in Italy for three years. Her dad was in the military, and he had an opportunity to accept an assignment overseas. For three years, she sent me letters about food, her mom shopping in the street markets for tomatoes and cheese, and pictures of her leaning against ancient-looking walls.

A few years ago, my dad had to go on a business trip to Italy, to speak at a conference. My little sister was able to go with him, and she brought back pictures from Rome, a stylish blue turtleneck for me, and tales about the glorious food. As of yet, I have not had a chance to make it to the boot-shaped country.

When it comes to Italy, it seems like eventually everything goes back to food. It makes sense though. Think about it. Spaghetti and meatballs, Italian salad dressing, and pizza are all as American as hamburgers and fries.

Sometimes on a Saturday night, we will pull out flour and yeast and tomato sauce and make homemade pizza. It’s always quite a production. First, you have to make the dough, soft and tan and yeasty. You have to knead it into elasticity and then let it rise until it doubles. I always press it flat onto the pizza pan…I haven’t quite mastered the whole toss-it-in-the-air thing.

Then, I spread it with tomato sauce, using intricate, Zen-like patterning. A variety of toppings follow. Usually, browned ground turkey, olives, jalapenos, cheese, and whatever else might be hidden in the fridge. I usually make my own, smaller pizza so I can use soy cheese.

Linda Stradley, on her website www.WhatsCookingAmerica.net, suggests that the tradition of pizza goes back thousands of years, to at least the time of Pompeii. In fact, during excavations of the ash-covered city, archeologists found evidence of a flat flour cake (which sounds a lot like pizza dough!). There was also a cook book written by Marcus Gavius Apicius called “De Re Coquinaria” in which he described a recipe that consisted of a base of bread, and toppings like chicken, pine nuts, cheese, garlic, mint, pepper and oil.

Tomatoes weren’t used on pizza until 1522, when they were brought to Europe from the New World. And it wasn’t for another 400 years before Americans really took notice of pizza. Celebrities with Italian heritage, like Frank Sinatra and baseball star Joe DiMaggio all ate pizzas, and helped the popularity of pizza to take off.

Now, pizza is just about as American and popular as hamburgers, ice cream, and Cokes. The toppings range from barbeque chicken, pineapple, anchovies, and cheese, to garlic sauce, spinach, artichokes, and green olives (And those are just the ones that I like!).

This recipe isn’t technically pizza, but it definitely passes as a tribute to the pie. Like a regular pizza, you can mix and match and add toppings to this recipe. Just remember, don’t add cheese until the last 30 minutes or so.

Serves/Makes: 4

• 1 pound ground turkey
• 1/2 red onion, chopped
• 1 1/2 cup cooked and drained whole wheat spiral macaroni
• 1/2 cup sliced mushrooms
• 1 can (26.5 ounce size) pizza sauce
• 1 package (3 ounce size) pepperoni
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese