Pizza

Piled high, this easy pizza delivers all the flavor of the deli sandwich it resembles. The best accompaniments are, of course, potato salad, coleslaw and pickles.

This recipe can be prepared in 45 minutes or less. The mushroom caps are the pizza "crusts." Chopped pepperoni, onions, olives or bell peppers also make great toppings.

Homemade pizza is more accessible than you think, especially if you keep a supply of dough in the freezer, and a few topping ingredients on hand. If you make small pizzas ("pizzettas"), you can individualize the toppings, and satisfy the various tastes of everyone in you household without a whole lot of extra work.

Wolfgang Puck gets the credit for redefining pizza at his trend-setting Spago restaurant in West Hollywood. The inventive pizzas came topped with everything from goat cheese and Black Forest ham to artichokes and exotic mushrooms. Duck sausage pizzas, like this one, were a real hit.

Bonnie Wilkens Metully of Cincinnati, Ohio, writes: "As much as my husband and I love to go out to eat, it's just more fun, intimate, and cozy to cook and entertain at home. I've taught a lot of our friends just how easy it is to prepare restaurant-quality dishes themselves. Who taught me? My older sister, who's a professional chef. She showed me the importance of getting everything prepped beforehand and seeking out the freshest ingredients." This terrific dish also works well as an appetizer if it's cut into bite-size pieces.

Slow-cooked garlic combines with bacon and mushrooms to give this first-course pizza a smoky, woodsy and oh-so-satisfying flavor. Serve a crisp green salad alongside.

Active time: 15 min Start to finish: 40 min

With the pizza, serve a green salad tossed with white-wine vinaigrette and pine nuts. Finish with lemon ice cream topped with pureed raspberries.

Crispy phyllo takes the place of a traditional pizza crust in this inventive recipe, which is a great appetizer or light entrée.

The following recipe was inspired by pissaladière, the Niçoise tart that features a similar topping.