Ever since I’ve known Brian, his favorite food has been pizza. Doesn’t matter what kind- frozen, Domino’s, homemade…he’s crazy about pizza. Sometimes I would have all the ingredients out to start dinner and he would say, “Let’s order pizza instead!”

I, on the other hand, have been trying to get Brian to eat healthier since the day after we got married (which is when I started cooking!) My mom was great about making vegetables available to us, so I wasn’t afraid to experiment with different veggie-centric recipes. I took it a little too far (apparently) when I decided to make a vegetarian meal for dinner one night. Brian took one look at the table and asked, “Where’s the meat?” Fast forward to 2022 when Brian suggested we eat vegan for a month!

But you know, there are days you just don’t want to eat healthy things. A few weeks ago, I was hungry and Brian suggested we eat a salad. I petulantly yelled, “Salad sucks!” He looked at me in surprise and said, “I broke you.” We’ve been laughing about that since it happened. And the way I broke Brian is with this gourmet pizza challenge. We went to a place we always go to for pizza in Vero recently and Brian took one bite, put down his slice, and said, “Uh oh. You ruined pizza for me.” Uh oh, indeed.

It’s not necessarily a bad thing. I say, if you’re going to eat pizza, eat REALLY good pizza. That goes for a lot of things for me. Our latest pizza night was bordering on mind-blowing. We got inspiration from the Netflix series “Chef’s Table: Pizza” again, our favorite pizza food truck, a local brewery that has great pizza, and our own imaginations!

Brian’s Pizza

Fresh mozzarella/Dill pickle/Prosciutto/Red onion/Chive/Barbeque drizzle

Brian’s inspiration was a pizza a local brewery makes called “Pickle and Ham.” We were all three enamored with the idea of pickles on pizza, and this version does NOT disappoint!

Shawna’s Pizza

Fresh mozzarella/Zucchini/Red onion/Lemon zest

I just love those ribbons of zucchini! This pizza is unexpected, fresh, earthy, and delicious. This flavor combination was inspired by one of the offerings at Bonci Pizzarium in Rome. The second episode of “Chef’s Table: Pizza” is centered around Gabriele Bonci, and it’s not for the faint of heart. I found it fascinating, but I had to cover my eyes when he dismantled a skinned sheep. That’s all I’m going to say about that.

Ashton’s Pizza

Fresh mozzarella/Sundried tomatoes/Green olives/Parsley

Ashton thought of these toppings himself and it turned out so good. We all love olives on pizza, but this is the first time we’ve tried sundried tomatoes and the charred crispy goodness was a delightful addition!

Bonus Pizza

Fresh mozzarella/Caramelized onions/Fig jam/Prosciutto/Parsley

This is our take on our favorite pizza from the Corvo Blanco food truck in Dunedin, FL. If you ever find yourself nearby, definitely stop in and treat yourself to their wood-fired imaginative creations! We actually made this one first and all snacked on it while I was baking the others, but we all agree this would make a wonderful dessert pizza!

Thanks for reading and I hope you’re enjoying my pizza series!