Potatoes and Pizza

Of Pizza and Potatoes

Now I am not one of those people who is above standing in front of the fridge and eating cold pizza (or spaghetti for that matter, or corn on the cob, or lobster). Last evening, I couldn’t decide whether to serve the last jar of caviar Conni gave me for my birthday. So while I debated, I stood in front of the refrigerator and finished it. Now what’s wrong with that?

But back to pizza. I don’t know if everyone does this, but I have discovered that the absolutely best way to reheat pizza is in a skillet on the stove. Heat a skillet over moderately low heat. Put in pizza in one layer. Put on a lid. Cook until the bottom is brown and the top bubbly. Turns out the skillet makes a perfect stovetop oven, and on a hot day, it is a whole lot cooler than turning on the big one!

And as it’s summer, there’s a gadget out there that actually does what it says – and a whole lot more. My Aunt Mid had one for half a godzillion years. She lived alone and used it for all kinds of things. It is called a Stovetop Potato Baker, but it is really a mini-oven. Plus if you like your baked potatoes with a crispy crust and not flaccid, this is a good way to go – if you’re only doing a couple. You can buy one at Home Improvements. Usually $14.99, they are currently on sale for $11.99.

Speaking of pizza and potatoes, did you ever have a Pizza Paisano? I stumbled across them when I was studying in Freiburg in 1964. We used to eat a lot of pizza (because it was cheap) and one evening I just pointed at this one. It became a favorite. It was basically a white pizza with very thin slices of potato stacked on top. The tops of these became as crunchy as potato chips while the bottoms were soft and melting like au gratin potatoes. Sort of combined the best of Italy and Germany didn’t it? Return of the Axis. Sure was good. Sure would like one.