Spam Recipe Contest Winner

Spam Mac 'N Cheese Pizza

Prepackaged refrigerated pizza crust

1/4 cup cooking oil 

2 teaspoons garlic salt

1/2 cup butter

3 tablespoons flour

1 teaspoon minced garlic

1 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

2 3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese, divided

3/4 cup mozzarella cheese

2 cups uncooked elbow pasta, prepare according to package directions

1 can Spam, diced

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Spread pizza crust on pizza pan.  Lightly coat top of pizza crust with cooking oil.  Sprinkle garlic salt on crust.  Bake crust for 5 minutes. Set aside.  In small sauce pan, melt butter over low heat.  Add garlic, saute until golden.  Add flour, stir until smooth.  Cook until bubbly.  Add cream gradually, stirring constantly.  Cook until it comes to a boil and thickens.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Remove from heat.  Add 2 cups cheddar cheese, stir until melted.  Add cooked pasta to cheese sauce, spread over pizza crust.  Arrange spam over top.  Sprinkle 3/4 cup cheddar cheese and mozzarella cheese over top.  Bake 6 to 10 minutes or until golden brown. 

The Spam recipe competition is a big contest at the Iowa State Fair.  This year the winner was Deana Wright.  You may recognize the name, she was the third place winner in the Holiday Cookies and Dessert contest I judged.  In that contest she made potato chip cookies.  Apparently Deana has a talent for taking strange ingredients and making a crazy creation that taste fantastic!

This pizza is comfort food on steroids!  The rich flavor of homemade mac and cheese, combined with the slightly salty ham tasting Spam, piled on top of a soft pizza crust, makes it easy to see why it took first place.  This pizza would be a big hit in Hawaii, where they put Spam on everything.

Below are a few pictures I took at the Iowa State Fair.