I woke up this morning and the roof of my mouth was still burnt from the mashed potato pizza I ate last night. Then in bed still, I wondered to myself if I could have a slice of it cold with my morning coffee.  <em>That's how good this pizza is</em>. It's so good that I more or less woke up thinking about it.  But instead of having cold pizza, I decided to have a cup of coffee and to write a blog post.

This pizza was introduced to me by my good friend and now ex-roommate Nick when we lived together in Washington DC. It's a Yale/New Haven inspired dish.  And maybe the best comfort food I've ever had.  It combines mashed potatoes, cheese, pizza and veggies.  Oh and bacon if you're so inclined.

In the beginning, I was suspect. It sounded strange.  But I after the first bite I was won over and three years later it seemed the like perfect remedy for the cold weather and the school work I've been doing all weekend.

[caption id="attachment_1951" align="alignleft" width="500" caption="Mashed Potato Pizza "]<a href="http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/dsc01446.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image-1951" title="Mashed Potato Pizza " src="http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/dsc01446.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="375" /></a>[/caption]

The pizza I made last night follows.  It's a spin, a mash-up of Nick's version. The crust is different and the mashed potatoes are souped up but the process remains the same so check out his kick-ass <a href="http://www.macheesmo.com/2009/01/mashed-potato-pizza/">food blog Macheesmo </a>for the original recipe and step by step directions (oh and there are great photos for those of you visual people). Basically, I am letting Nick do the hard work for me. Thanks, Nick!<!--more-->

The Crust:
<ul>
	<li>1 cup warm water</li>
	<li>1 scant tablespoon dry yeast</li>
	<li>1 teaspoon honey</li>
	<li>1 teaspoon salt (if you want)</li>
	<li>2 tablespoons  oil</li>
	<li>2 cups flour (you could also do 1 cup white flour and one cup whole wheat flour)</li>
	<li>1/2 cup corn meal</li>
</ul>
Mix the water and yeast first and let sit for a minute or two until the yeast is clearly dissolving.  Mix in all of the other ingredients and knead at end on a floured counter or cutting board.  You may need to add more flour at this point.  Let rest for five minutes.  It's a quick pizza dough though so no need to let it sit or rise for hours!! Just shape it turn up the edges for a crust that will hold the mashed-potato mixture.

The Mashed Potatoes (with carrot):
<ul>
	<li>3-4 medium potatoes</li>
	<li>1 large carrot</li>
	<li>1/3 cup butter</li>
	<li>1/2 milk</li>
	<li>3 heads of garlic chopped finely</li>
	<li>a little salt</li>
</ul>
Oh and after thinking about these beautiful colored mashed potatoes (white and orange) I started thinking about mixing these up with spinach rather than the carrot.  That would be tasty and given how hot the mashed potatoes are you could use either fresh or frozen and I'd guess they'd wilt or defrost with the heat of the potato.

But here's what I did: Peal and cut the potatoes and carrot. Boil until cooked and soft.  If you cook them a little bit longer they will be easier to mash by hand. Mash the potatoes and carrots with the remaining ingredients. Taste.

Shape the dough for your pan--probably round or oval (if you're like me).  Put some olive oil down on the dough. Spread potato-carrot mixture over the dough. Sprinkle shredded cheese over the mashed potatoes.  Slice veggies as needed.  I used a red pepper and mushrooms and then sprinkled the pizza with oregano and if I'd had rosemary I'd have used that too.

Put in oven that's been heated to 450 degrees Fahrenheit and bake for 15-20 minutes.

[caption id="attachment_1952" align="alignleft" width="500" caption="Close-up"]<a href="http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/dsc01445.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image-1952" title="Pizza Close-up " src="http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/dsc01445.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="375" /></a>[/caption]

If you can, let cool for 10 minutes then eat. If you're hungry and think your impervious to pain, cut pizza while it's burning hot, eat straight out of the oven and burn the roof of your mouth. (This was probably why I should have been drinking a beer but alas I was not.) Then eat another piece at a normal temperature.  Either way though, I think you'll wake up dreaming about pizza the next day. <em> </em>

<em>Maybe I'll have a pizza snack at 10:30 am. </em>