Photo: pink_fish13

The first big vacation the whole ChowFamily and I took was to Rome when Atticus had just turned 1 year old. That was a big culinary adventure for all of us. And a reminder that some of the most familiar foods can become new again with simple changes. Take pizza, for example. I normally think of it as junk food. But in Rome, pizza became breakfast, lunch, or dinner. With different ingredients, it was healthy, fresh, and light. Something I gladly served Atticus.


In California (yes, when you read this, I’m still there) the pizza can be like that, too. It’s called California Style. A simple thin crust topped with fresh local ingredients. And a reminder that travel can make you (and your little ones) see old foods in a whole new way. Mmm.

Stacie and I like to say “use what you’ve got.” And what better way to do that than by swapping conventional tomato sauce and inches of gooey cheese for things like arugula, potatoes, spinach, bacon, artichokes, radichio, apples… I could go on but I’ll let you take it from here. Look in your fridge. Go to your farmers market. Pick up premade dough at your local pizzeria or frozen foods section. Be inspired.


Need some help? I’ll surely be digging into some sort of Pizza Bianca, like this Roasted Garlic, Chili, and Shallots Pizza from Emeril Lagasse. Or turn to Stacie’s recent Fig and Prosciutto Pizza. Or this Potato and Onion Pizza from Martha Stewart.