Matzo as pizza?

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As a child, my only experience with matzo was my dad’s pizzas. This wasn’t a good association.

As a child, my only experience with matzo was my dad’s pizzas. This wasn’t a good association.

For a number of years, his go-to late night snack was a sheet of matzo smeared with tomato paste, then topped with slices of bright orange fat-free American “cheese.” He’d then microwave it until the cheese-like substance began to bubble and the matzo softened a bit. Oddly, I never joined him in this indulgence.

Taking a gamble that matzo could be put to better use than nuked faux pizza, I recently did a bit of research. Turns out, Dad wasn’t the only one putting matzo to use in classic Italian dishes. They just happened to do it a lot better than he did. My favorite? The many iterations of matzo lasagna, in which sheets of matzo are used in place of the noodles.

That prompted me to start playing, and this savory-creamy white lasagna stacked with sauteed mushrooms and onions was the delicious result.