Rhode Island Bakery Serves Zeppole Pizza

It's zeppole season!

St. Joseph's Day or The Feast of St. Joseph, is celebrated annually on March 19. Many will celebrate the day with a tasty treat in hand.

We're talking zeppole. The Italian pastry comes is a variety of flavors and styles. For example, some are fried, some are baked, some are stuffed with ricotta cheese, some with a custard or pastry cream filling, some are pistachio or chocolate or even Irish cream.

While many try to stand out with unique flavors, one Rhode Island bakery is turning heads with a creative twist on an Italian classic: zeppole pizza.

D. Palmieri's Bakery in Johnston is serving their unique take on the traditional pastry. "I'm always trying to make creative stuff" said Eric Palmieri, Baker and Pizza Artist at D. Palmieri's Bakery.

"As great as zeppoles are, they're not the easiest thing to eat and they're enormous. You could split one zeppole with three or four people if you really wanted to" Palmieri said. "I always liked them a little warm, so I just had this idea 'what if I tried to make a pizza out of it'?"

He's been creating the pie for about a decade, but said it's really taken off over the last few years. "People love it and I think it's a lot easier to eat and it's not so messy and it's taken off. People really seem to love it."

This labor of love has the pizza going in and out of the oven multiple times. Eric says the base is similar to an Italian dough boy (yes, please), then topped with cream, crumbled zeppole shells, sprinkled with confection sugar and a finishing touch of sliced cherries.

Swing by D. Palmieri's and grab a slice, or order a whole zeppole pie to share with friends. Keep in mind, if you're ordering the whole pizza, the bakery will need about an hour to make it.

Buon appetito!