When is Pizza Luce going to open a San Diego location? I guarantee there is a market out here. Namely, us.
Until that happy day arrives I will continue to knock off our favorite menu items. For my first attempt, we had The Rustler BBQ mock duck pizza. Now I bring you my favorite pizza of all time, the Garlic Mashed Potato Pizza.
Some of you may think that I am insane, that potatoes and pizza should never be mentioned together. Don’t worry — you’re wrong. This pizza is amazing. And it’s actually really easy to make at home. It’s not your traditional cheese-bomb, but it’s flavorful and unique and delicious.
There aren’t very many ingredients which is rather nice because it comes together quickly. Let’s start with the obvious:
You need garlic and mashed potatoes to make garlic mashed potato pizza. Shocking, I know! Pizza Luce uses red potatoes, but I had Yukon golds and used those successfully. Any waxy potato will do, and I buy organic ones and leave the skin on for extra fiber and protein.
For the mashed potatoes: dice potatoes, put them in a pot, cover them with cold water, then add a pinch of salt and a few whole peeled cloves of garlic. Boil for 10-15 minutes then mash them up with the garlic, add another clove of minced garlic, and stir in some butter and milk. To make them easier to spread on the pizza I thinned them a little water which cooks out while the pizza bakes.
All the elements can be prepared in advance and assembled for dinner. You can even use leftovers. Weeknight pizza!
Add a generous sprinkle of tomatoes and scallions.
Last but not least, we need some cheese.
Feta cheese. I used about 1/3 cup but could have used a bit more. This is what makes the pizza amazing. The feta turns golden brown in the oven and adds a layer of toasty, salty complexity to the dish.
That’s it! So easy, so delicious.
I used a very thin crust for this and it wasn’t substantial enough to support the weight of the potatoes, so you do want something more in line with a “hand-tossed” thickness of crust. It still tasted good, it just required a fork.
This pale, unassuming sight needs just 10 minutes in the oven to transform into a thing of beauty.
The toasty crust, creamy potatoes, juicy tomatoes, and crunchy scallions are more than the sum of their parts. Are you ready to try it?
Have you had potato pizza before? What’s your favorite “weird” pizza combination?
Submitted to YeastSpotting.
Garlic Mashed Potato Pizza
Makes 1 amazing and delicious pizza for you to share as you see fit
Ingredients:
- 1 ball of prepared pizza dough (I used this recipe which I hope to post soon)
- cornmeal for the pan
- 1-1 1/2 cups of garlic mashed potatoes
- 3/4 cup diced tomatoes (I used 2 medium roma tomatoes)
- 1/2 cup sliced scallions
- 1/3-1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
Directions:
- Preheat oven as hot as it will go (450-500F), preferably with a pizza stone.
- Sprinkle a pizza peel (if using a stone) or a sheet pan generously with cornmeal. Stretch the pizza dough to the desired size and place on the peel or pan.
- Spread about 1/2 inch of mashed potatoes evenly over the pizza dough.
- Distribute the tomatoes, scallions, and feta cheese evenly over the mashed potatoes.
- Bake pizza 8-12 minutes (depending on how hot your oven gets) until crust is golden and feta cheese is lightly browned. Enjoy!
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{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
Mashed potato pizza sounds SO good! Plus garlic makes everything better!
Yes, and yes.
I absolutely love potato pizza and I used to make it nearly every week! I first had the pizza at Pizza Luce on a trip to Minneapolis and then I’ve made it often since.
Original trip: http://emeraldsunshine.org/2008/01/07/fabulous-weekend/
Post discussing it: http://emeraldsunshine.org/2009/01/12/weekly-menu-jan-12-18/
I tried out a few actual recipes from different sources and then I just started running with it.
Thank you for validating my post. 😀
Ooh, and you went to Origami, too. We used to live mere blocks away and ate there frequently. Love it.
My FAVORITE pizza at Luce!! Do you want to come live out here? We’re going to need a new production manager very soon…In the meantime I’ll probably make this pizza this weekend.
Tempting, but we have moved recently enough that I am still in the phase where I never want to move again.
Enjoy your pizza! I was really happy with how much it tasted like the Luce version.
I’m using yukon gold potatoes for Thanksgiving. I like to bake them to keep all the good nutrition, including potassium. This post is making me think garlic mashed potatoes. Maybe I could bake garlic also and the baked garlic and potatoes could be smashed together. If I boil the potatoes I could save the extra water for soup, gravy, etc . . .
What about a whole wheat pizza crust, any ideas?
p.s.Your blog is vunderbar.and please clone yourself and live in more than one place : )
I cannot see any downsides to combining garlic and potatoes in any way at all, that sounds delicious!
The crust I used for this was part white whole wheat flour and all-purpose flour; I’m still trying to find a whole wheat crust recipe that I love. Peter Reinhart hasn’t led me astray yet, though, so even though I haven’t tried this recipe, I am confident that it would be good.
P.S. You make me blush!
So…. how important do you think the Feta is?
Because there really is no acceptable fake cheese.
Ooh, good question. Because I was trying to replicate the restaurant version, the feta is really integral to the dish. However if you’re just start with it as a concept, substituting would be easier. I feel a little dirty suggesting it, but bacon might be a salty/umami option that would work. Or here is a recipe for a vegan feta substitute.
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