Pizza of the week is a fried calamari slice at Victor's Pizza & Pasta House in Melville
The "Palermo" pizza at Victor's in Melville includes fried calamari and hot cherry peppers. Credit: Newsday/ Peter M. Gianotti
In the repertoire of specialty pies at Victor's Pizza & Pasta House in Melville is one dubbed "Palermo." It has nothing to do with Sicily and everything to do with two of Long Island's most popular foods.
Here, Palermo means a thin-crust, round pizza that's topped with crunchy fried calamari and hot cherry peppers, plus a chunky tomato sauce, finished with fresh mozzarella, basil and extra-virgin olive oil. You half-expect a little bucket of marinara for additional dipping possibilities. The Palermo is $25.
Consider it an appetizer and a main course in one. The pizza itself is very good, as are many at Victor's. You also should sample the sauce-on-top "upside down Sicilian" and the savory Grandpa Sicilian, capped with sauteed onions, toasty breadcrumbs, plum tomato and Parmesan cheese.
A side order of garlickly broccoli rabe is fine company with any of them. Likewise, the arugula salad, with chopped tomatoes, roasted peppers, diced cucumber, and Gorgonzola cheese.
Victor's is in the same shopping center as the Melville post office.
Victor's Pizza & Pasta House, 712 Walt Whitman Rd., Melville; 631-351-1270.
