I know, I had you at pizza, and you’ll never leave once you’ve tasted this healthy take on an ol’ school favourite. My love for pizza started early, in 1971 to be precise. ‘What was this round flying salty saucer like bread thing?’ my five year old self wondered as I spat out an anchovy.

While my taste for whole anchovies never evolved, my love for the original flatlay has never died. On Lygon street in Melbourne around 1977 pizza burst into my childhood and that shredded ham was the shag pile of my youth. This continued to thrive late into my teens at Pinocchio’s Pizza on Toorak Road until the ham shag endured cut backs and resizing. Next thing we knew rectangular gourmet pizza had landed – think walnuts, blue cheese and sun-dried tomatoes – and the market was cornered.

Here in Byron Bay pizza just ain’t the same, however the locals just love the wood fired goodness over at Treehouse on Belongil and a Friday night Legend Pizza still rocks for many. With a flourish of Byron Bay Cooking Schoolevents and classes, there’s a bounty of local produce just waiting for an idea.