Make A Run To Pizza Hut, New Edge Is Worth A Try

This week I reached out for a new Edge pizza at Pizza Hut. The Edge comes in four varieties: The Works, Chicken Veggie, Veggie and Meaty. Put me down for a medium Meaty, sweetie.

Here’s the blueprint: tomatoes, sausage, pepperoni, ham and bacon on a special thin crust, topped with Italian herbs and spices.

Total calories: 155 per slice. Fat grams: 8 per slice.

If those calorie and fat figures sound low, it’s because Pizza Hut cuts its Edge pizzas into 16 small square pieces instead of the traditional eight triangular slices. If you normally eat two slices, you’ll eat four of these. (In my opinion, if you eat only two slices, you ain’t normal.)

The Edge looks different because Pizza Hut spreads the sauce ‘n’ stuff all the way to the tippy-tip of the outer edge. Some of the toppings even spill over the border.

Isn’t that what got Saddam Hussein in trouble?

The Edge has a couple of other gimmicks going for it. Pizza Hut has offered a “thin ‘n’ crispy” crust since 1958 - it’s the restaurant’s original crust - but the Edge’s crust is even thinner and crispier.

As the Duchess of Windsor once said, you can’t be too thin or too rich. She didn’t say anything about too crispy. If the Edge’s crust were any thinner, we’d be talking Saltines here.

The Edge’s sauce is new, too, zippier than Pizza Hut’s regular bland recipe. The whole pizza is sprinkled with Italian herbs and spices.

Pizza Hut says each round pizza is cut into 16 square pieces, using three vertical and three horizontal slashes. Obviously, this isn’t possible. Nothing round can ever be square, with the exception of Willard Scott.

While the Edge is a pretty decent pizza, this business of spreading the pepperoni and cheese all the way to the edge throws me for a loop. With no crust, where do you grab it?

If you scoop it from below, you’d better have good balance or you’ll get a pantsful of hot pizza. If you grab it by the sides, be gentle or the cheese will squirt one way and the pepperoni will sail across the room like a Frisbee. Sure, it’s a lot of laughs - until someone gets poked in the eye.

If you eat it with a knife and fork, forget it, I want nothing to do with you. Pick it up with your hands! Just don’t touch my piece.

Is the Edge worth a try? Yes, but mainly because it’s on sale for the ridiculously low price of $8.99 through Dec. 21. After that, it’s going up to $10.99 and I’m going back to my beloved Super Supreme Pizza (nine toppings!) with the hand-tossed crust.

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