Sausage-mushroom and baked potato pizza
Imagine this: pizza smothered in crème fraîche, thinly sliced potatoes, green onions and, of course, bacon. Sounds like a dream, I know. But it’s real! I promise. And you can find this, and several other types of non-traditional pizzas at Pete Zaaz in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. I am of course always excited about new and good food within walking distance of my apartment, and Pete Zaaz certainly does not disappoint. I have now been there a few times and the baked potato pizza is a clear winner so far, but pretty much everything I have tried has been great. Many of their pies have rather outlandish combinations (like the current “Pretzel Parm” with garlic béchamel, smoked gouda, and fried chicken) but they absolutely work. On our last visit, we also tried the Reuben Stromboli, a smart take on the Reuben sandwich with corned beef, spicy mustard, and sauerkraut stuffed inside a stromboli.
Though they don’t have a wood-fired oven, each pizza is made to order and still ends up nicely charred in their convection oven. The other great part about Pete Zaaz is their garden in the back — since the interior is rather narrow and has limited seating, the back provides a lovely and more open setting to enjoy your pizza. And it’s BYOB — so really, what more do you need? Word is that they are going to start having movie nights during the summer as well, which would really just put it over the top. And I’ll let you in on a little secret: instead of grated parmesan or red pepper flakes to add to your pizza, Pete Zaaz has instead created its own spice blend, consisting of a few herbs, spices, and — crushed Cheeze-its. Genius.
On a side note — I am FLOORED by all of the wonderful comments on my previous post on my grandmother’s rhubarb pie recipe. THANK YOU all for your incredibly kind words — I love sharing recipes with all of you, and it has been so lovely to “meet” new people and discover new blogs.
