Potato Pizza

This is a recipe that is popular in southern Italy and would be great if you have someone in your family that is on a gluten-free diet.  It basically consists of using mashed potatoes as a base for the pizza rather than traditional crust.
 I started by taking 2 large baking potatoes, peeling them and then cutting them into cubes.  I then boiled them in salted water until they were tender.  After I drained them I put them in a

hand-cranked food processor I have and processed them along with 2 tablespoons of olive oil , a teaspoon of dried oregano, and some salt and pepper.  I tried to add fresh basil in with the potatoes, but they never really chopped well so I ended up arranging the basil leaves on top of the potatoes which I had spread on an ordinary pizza pan sprayed with olive oil cooking spray and sprinkled with a touch of corn meal.  Before adding the basil though, I shredded on some Parmesan cheese.  Then I topped the "crust"with plum tomatoes I had cut into wedges, halved Kalamata olives, capers, and red onion slices.  I put some anchovies on one half for Mike and put extra olives on the other half for me!

I baked our potato pizza at 425 degrees for 23 minutes.  I've often heard that a pizza is only as good as its crust, and this proved to be true.  Mike and I both thought it was tasty, but we couldn't honestly call it pizza.  On this particular pizza night we watched 5th Quarter, a movie based on the true story of the tragic death of 15 year old Luke Abbate.  The story gained extraordinary attention because Luke's older brother, Jon, was a football player for Wake Forest and even as he struggled through his grief was able to lead his team to a championship season.  The emotions of Luke's family as they struggle to deal with his death are raw and it is uncomfortable to view their pain,  but I can only imagine the portrayal is accurate and anything less would be dishonest.  It is encouraging to see a story of a family working to turn tragedy into something positive for each of them individually as well as for their society as a whole.  Luke's family has created a foundation to educate teens against reckless driving and to encourage organ donation.  I've put a link at the bottom of this blog if you're interested in finding out more. 



Ready for the oven!