Pizza Party: Three Variations

I don’t usually make pizza at home because in New York there is a constant fever-pitched competition over who has the best slice in the city—an ongoing battle of wood-burning ovens versus gas, thin crust versus thick, sauce variations, styles of cheese, and on and on. New Yorkers often have a touchingly fanatical devotion to their favorite spot, so it seems almost against the spirit of things to attempt homemade pizza. Nonetheless, there’s something to be said for that straight-outof-the-oven freshness you only get at home. And these recipes are not so much for classic pizza as for combinations of flavors that I love, using pizza as the vehicle to convey them.