Penicillin Pizza

This is the kind of recipe that makes kids shriek with delight. Regular English muffin pizzas get a creepy Halloween makeover with one clever trick: grated Parmesan dyed a queasy shade of “mold green” using food coloring, sprinkled over the hot melted cheese right out of the broiler.

The base is simple. Split muffins, a thin layer of pizza sauce, shredded mozzarella, broiled until bubbly and browned. Nothing fancy. The whole point is getting that moldy-looking green Parmesan on top while the cheese is still hot so it sticks and slightly melts into the surface.

Mix five drops each of yellow, red, and green food coloring into the Parmesan until you hit that perfect petri-dish green. Use a plastic bag to mix so your fingers don’t stain. Serve in a lab coat if you’ve got one. Science has never tasted this good.

Kitchen Tips

• Sprinkle the green Parmesan on hot pizzas. If the cheese has cooled too much, the Parmesan just sits on top as powder instead of slightly melting in. Work fast after pulling from the broiler.
• Use a plastic bag for mixing the color. Food coloring stains hands badly. Put the Parmesan and drops in a zip-top bag, seal, and shake to distribute evenly.
• Watch the broiler closely. English muffins go from golden to burnt in seconds under a broiler. Stay at the oven and pull them when the mozzarella just starts to brown.
• Space the muffins apart on the sheet. Touching muffins steam each other and the edges stay soggy instead of crisping up.

Variations

• Bloody pizza: Add a few drops of red food coloring to extra pizza sauce and drizzle it over the finished pizzas for a gory, “blood and mold” effect.
• Grown-up version: Skip the food coloring and use actual pesto drizzled on top for a green topping that tastes as good as it looks creepy.