So I'm doing another one of those pizza dinners

[Jenise]

Here's the menu this time:

The Greek Salad: desiccated zucchini, Kalamata olives, lemon rind, pine nuts, fontina cheese and shaved fennel on pesto base

The Farmer: thinly sliced yokon golds, bacon, spinach and rosemary, mozzarella, no sauce base

The Fisherman: Portugese sausage (fried, drained and ground over) sliced fresh roma tomatoes, mushrooms and red onion, red sauce base

Dessert: with some kind of fruit preserves as a base, fresh pears, thyme, gorgonzola, mozz, and balsamic drizzle on whole wheat crust

I'm toying with adding clams to that Portugese sausage pizza. I'm thinking that might weird them out, but everyone loves clam chowder, don't they?

Yes, everyone loves some version of clam chowder.

I think you'd sell it more easily if you put it on the white 'za instead of the red one. But I give you credit: clams and pork are very Portuguese thing to do.

[Jenise]

Yes, everyone loves some version of clam chowder.

I think you'd sell it more easily if you put it on the white 'za instead of the red one. But I give you credit: clams and pork are very Portuguese thing to do.

I hear you, but the thing is, it's the only red sauce pizza. And the need for one of the pizzas (actually five, I'm making 20 pies) has got to check that box more than the clams need white. A pizza dinner without a red sauce would be traumatic, wouldn't it?

I'm with you on considering a red pizza to be a must, Jenise. The clams are an interesting idea and the Portuguese idea is a good one. I also wonder how they'd work on the Farmer pizza (maybe without the spinach?).

Jenise, oh, definitely. At least one of them should be red-sauce based. "Margherita" is the icon of pizza styles, for good or ill.

But as you're putting clams on red sauce, does that mean your audience prefers Manhattan Chowder to New England?

[Jenise]

But as you're putting clams on red sauce, does that mean your audience prefers Manhattan Chowder to New England?

They will after they eat my pizza!

[Jenise]

I'm with you on considering a red pizza to be a must, Jenise. The clams are an interesting idea and the Portuguese idea is a good one. I also wonder how they'd work on the Farmer pizza (maybe without the spinach?).

The Portugese sausage will, btw, get precooked and then ground in the food processor so rather than individual bites, it will be as universal a flavor on that pizza as the cheese and tomato sauce. The red onions, tomatoes and clams will provide the distinctive bites.

Interesting putting clams and potatoes--New England chowder basics--on the Farmer pizza. The Spinach is there mostly for color (it will be wilted and squeezed prior to addition, so little wads here and there will provide a different burst of flavor.

I agree with clams on the white potato pie, and have made it many times. I usually use pesto as well, and you might consider basil instead of or in addition to the spinach. Pesto/potato pizza is a highlight of at least two local pizzerias, Golden Boy and Escape from New York, over in San Francisco, but since I moved to Berkeley I don't get to the city often and so make it myself. Lots of garlic? You bet.

[Jenise]

I agree with clams on the white potato pie, and have made it many times. I usually use pesto as well, and you might consider basil instead of or in addition to the spinach. Pesto/potato pizza is a highlight of at least two local pizzerias, Golden Boy and Escape from New York, over in San Francisco, but since I moved to Berkeley I don't get to the city often and so make it myself. Lots of garlic? You bet.

We're using pesto on the zucchini pizza, so another basil presence is is off the table. The potato pizza will have rosemary and black pepper instead. However, would be something wonderful to do just because (if only my husband weren't allergic to clams!)