I’ve always had a special place in my stomach for Pizza Hut Pizza. It was a focal part of my childhood. We’d go a couple of time a month to the one the next town over and get some delicious bread sticks and pizzas with the family and it was always a great time full of laughter and great pizza (I swear to you, in the 80’s the pizza there was fire). Sometimes if there was a wait my brother and I would drop a quarter or two into the ninja turtles game in the lobby until our table is ready. It’s a core memory from my childhood and one I’d like to replicate (food wise at least – I have the ninja turtles game in my arcade cabinet so I can play that whenever I want!)

The problem is Pizza Hut has gone downhill. The last few times I tried the pizza there is was a pan full of disappointment. They changed the dough recipe and the sauce and are using some weird cheese and the entire texture and taste is way off from what it used to be. So that’s why I’m determined to crack the code on replicating that 80’s Pizza Hut pie.

All that being said – this wasn’t it. I mean.. it was still a good pizza and the dough was flaky and buttery but the sauce and cheese just didn’t hit like I expected. Time to go back to the drawing board – one day I’ll recreate that 80’s nostalgia bomb – and when I do I’ll fire up a game of ninja turtles first to complete the experience.

This pizza has been in my rotation for a few years. The genesis of it was a bunch of leftover butternut squash mash I made for the baby. I looked at it and said ‘wait, I bet this would be good on a pizza’. Due to the inherent sweetness of the squash I know I needed a bold salty cheese to punch through and balance it out. I had a block of manchego cheese in the fridge – grated it on the squash threw it in the oven and pulled out an amazing pie. Finish it with a drizzle of hot honey and you’ve got Tony’s squash pizza.

I was tinkering with ways to make a pesto pizza besides my usual fig jam pizza. Since the pesto was rich and salty I wanted something lighter to offset it. I ended up settling on tomato bruschetta topping. It was light, textured, but also was a flavor bomb that could hold its own against the pesto sauce. Overall it was amazing and flavorful My only change would be a sturdier crust – since the soft Neapolitan pizza crust I was using couldn’t really stand up to the weight of all the toppings like a NY crust would.

I was wandering around the grocery store trying to decide what looked good for meals that week when I saw the fresh brussel sprouts basket and wondered how they would taste on a pizza. Some internet research paired brussel sprouts with red onions frequently so I decided to make the base of my pizzas a layer of marinated red onions slowly cooked down until they were super soft. Topped off with some dry mozzarella and brussel sprouts shaved super fine (so they cooked / charred consistently).

Standard NY style dough with a san marzano tomato sauce base, some parmesan and slices of hot cappicola. The only thing I’d change is having the butcher slice the salami very very thin – the slices I got were pretty thick and ended up a bit chewy, throwing off the whole textural experience. The heat from the salami wasn’t too hot, so I threw on lots of fresh red pepper flakes which did the trick!

Sicilian pizza with burrata, marinated tomatoes, basil and balsamic glaze) [2/50]

This pizza was delicious – the savory sauce offset with the sweet burrata and tomatoes made for a satisfying slice. The Sicilian dough requires a long lead time but it was crisp on the bottom with an airy chew that carried it’s own flavor profile against the toppings.

4/5 – would make again