Thanksgiving Lover’s Pizza. I’m Serious.

This post is for all the Homestar Runner fans out there. Don’t know what that is? I’m almost loath to attempt to summarize it, because it defies explanation, but I’ll give it a try.

If you’ve ever heard someone mention Trogdor the Burninator or “The system. Is down,” those two pop culture references come straight from Homestar Runner, a goofy, creative, and sadly now-defunct online cartoon series with a major cult following.

(This AV Club article on Homestar Runner’s far-reaching influence encapsulates the series very well.)

The Homestar Runner world is populated with surreal characters like Strong Bad, a rotund gravely-voiced dude in a Mexican wrestler’s mask who hangs out with an animal sidekick named The Cheat.

There’s also The King of Town, a bon vivant and the ostensible ruler of the kingdom, though he spends most of his free time eating and thinking about food.

Though he’ll eat almost anything—corn dog batter, a lifetime supply of fish sticks, cocoa butter, pretty much everything except peas—the King of Town really loves Thanksgiving and the food associated with the holiday.

He really fears for his personal safety if it’s not Thanksgiving (click the > button in the cartoon to listen to his distressed voicemail—it’s message #6), and is adamant that all families fry their turkeys for the feast.

And it was a throwaway line in a Strong Bad Email episode about opening a pizza joint, where the King of Town orders “about 50 Thanksgiving Lover’s pizzas delivered to the only castle around here,” that inspired this recipe.

Maybe it was that the concept of a Thanksgiving Lover’s pizza initially sounded absurdly unpalatable, or maybe it was that the King of Town always struck me as an absurdly funny member of the Homestar-o-sphere.

But jokingly asking for one in the King’s warbly voice (often followed by another favorite quote, “Let the KoT have some!“) became a frequently repeated in-joke.

And yet, the more I thought about it, the more I realized the King of Town really had the right idea with this Thanksgiving Lover’s pizza thing.

After all, one of my favorite hometown pizza joints, Jioio’s, puts mashed potatoes on a flaky pie-like crust for its pierogi pizza.

And that’s not disgusting—it’s one of my favorite comfort foods! Maybe that crazy KoT was on to something after all.

The crust is made from Parker House roll dough and topped with a healthy smear of creamy mashed potatoes, generous handfuls of turkey and stuffing, a drizzle of gravy, spoonfuls of cranberry sauce, and crispy fried sage leaves for garnish.

I hope this homemade Thanksgiving Lover’s pizza does the King of Town proud.

It’s also a fantastic way to use up leftovers this coming weekend: make the pizza dough on Thursday night before you hit the hay and you’ll have it ready to go for the next day’s lunch.

As the Teen Girl Squad would say, it’s “soooooooo gooooooood!” And don’t forget to let the KoT have some.