When I reviewed Jamie's Italy for MSNBC.COM I wrote: "Fried pizza, for instance, sounds like it could be great, but would probably need more frying time than Oliver allows and definitely a lower-moisture cheese than buffalo mozzarella. Of course, it also sounds like something invented at a frat house around 2 a.m., but Oliver insists it is how pizza was originally made."

I briefly contemplated at the time trying to tweak the recipe and make an awesome fried pizza but decided pizza did not need to be fried. Fortunately, Mark Bittman did not agree. And his fried pizza is AWESOME and super easy. It is not crispy like regular pizza at all but it is still very, very tasty.

In other NYT food news, my in-laws and husband were nuts about this meatloaf burger although I would have cooked the bacon separately- it did not get that crisp under the broiler and the fat rendered out all over the burgers, making them greasy. And if I think something has too much bacon fat in it, it surely does. This apple cake was a slam dunk, though. Am I the only one who only makes the vintage recipe when Amanda Hesser does this feature? I always look at the update and think, "I'd probably eat that in a restaurante but no way am I making a souffleed crepe at home." Either this means I am culinarily stuck in the 1950s or I am a cook, not a chef. Or both.

Lastly, despite or perhaps because of this recipe's use of frozen hash browns it was totally awesome. Like, I wish I had made the full 4 servings for the two of us instead of halving the recipe awesome. However, when Gourmet says to use a nonstick pan? Gourmet means it.