Much of what I have written in this column has been about the differences in cooking today compared to the cooking our great grandmothers, grandmothers and mothers did. Well this issue I will write about my own very modern version of a fairly recent addition to the list of American favorites.

Pizza came into being in Italy, of course, and made its way to America with the returning soldiers of World War II. They had tried it, liked it and wanted to have the same dish here when they got home.

This is my lower fat version. I use flour tortillas for the crust. Most tortillas have only a small amount of fat. I admit I have created a bit of a cultural cross-over by using flour tortillas for the crust but they work wonderfully well. Also using a pre-made crust is a time saver and I have never been able to make a thin crisp crust pizza any other way. I love pepperoni but who needs all that fat. I have discovered the trick of blanching the thin sliced sausage in boiling water for just long enough to melt the grease. Draining off the water I lose a lot of the artery clogging fat. But the flavor is still there. If anything, it brightens the spiciness of the pepperoni. If you want to use a can or jar of pizza sauce, just watch out for the excess salt and fat they may try to slip in. Otherwise, try my quick and fat free recipe below. For the cheese, if you can find a low fat or fat free type, by all means go for it. I have found it really is almost the same.

Start by making the sauce then pre-heat the oven to 425 degrees. Using a large fork, poke holes all over the tortillas. The holes should be about ¼ to ½ inch apart. This will keep the tortillas flat. When the oven is hot, place the plain tortillas in the oven right on the rack to crisp. Bake until they just start to show a little brown. If they puff up, poke with a skewer to let the steam escape. Remove from the oven and ladle on the sauce. Spread ½ cup of cheese on each of the 4 tortillas. Cover with pepperoni slices and return to the oven rack to bake, about 10 to 15 minutes. Be careful not to let the edges of the crust burn. When the cheese is melted and hot, remove from the oven, slice and enjoy. I have not tried this with other toppings but you might try any of your favorites.

Mix all ingredients in a small sauce pan. Heat to a simmer and cook slowly 10 to 15 minutes. Makes enough for 4 tortilla pizzas.