Pagash Pizza, also known as pagach, pogash, pierogi pizza, or potato pizza is a carbohydrate-laden treat that is wildly popular in Northeastern Pennsylvania (NEPA) during the Christian Lenten season when many don’t eat meat on Fridays. This rectangular pan pizza gets smothered in cheese and mashed potatoes for a truly hearty square slice or “cut” as it’s locally known. 

Adapted from a traditional Eastern European pagach, a dough pocket filled with potatoes and/or cabbage or sauerkraut, pagash is known for its crispy crust, creamy mashed potatoes and decadent amounts of cheese. While there aren’t official rules for what constitutes this kind of pizza (like there are for a Neapolitan pizza), there are classic ingredients you can count on. All pizzas include potatoes, most involve butter and cheese and some are topped with fried onions. 

When Jim Mirabelli, owner and chief pizza officer of the NEPA Pizza Review (a guide to all things Northeastern Pennsylvania-style pizza) created this recipe for homemade pagash, he turned to some of its most popular versions for inspiration. Ferri’s Pizza in Moscow, Pennsylvania makes one of the most well-known versions, simply named “Potato Pizza.” Check out writer and illustrator Hawk Krall’s essay about Ferri’s, “You Need to Join the Cult of Pennsylvania’s Potato Pizza” for a pilgrimage-inspiring paean. 

Jim couldn’t get the exact recipe from Ferri’s — the family closely holds onto the secret ingredients and methods — but his recipe comes close. Like Ferri’s, Jim puts the toppings on a Northeastern Pennsylvania-style dough (like the one used for Old Forge-style Cheese Pizza) and he doesn’t skimp on the cheese.

This isn’t the only famous version of the pie. Local favorite Happy Pizza in Plymouth, Pennsylvania bakes a round pizza with both a top and bottom crust, bringing it closer to a traditional stuffed pagach. And Sicilian Bella Festa’s in West Wyoming, Pennsylvania makes theirs on a pan-fried Sicilian dough. Whichever way you choose to make pagash, one thing’s for sure, it’ll be good. 

This recipe appears in A Love Letter to Northeastern Pennsylvania-style Pizza by Jim Mirabelli.