Tonight, as a messy storm huffs and huff outside, I continue a new tradition: Gourmet Storm Pizzas.

It feels good on a cold night in the midst of a 24-hour storm.

My storm pizza was cooked on a whole wheat floor crust from the supermarket.

The primary ingredients were thinly sliced sweet potato, sliced, fresh mozzarella cheese, Chlorizo peeled and thinly sliced, chopped Kale, a handful of sprouts, some thin tomato slices on tomato sauce.

And yes, a couple of teaspoons of pine nuts.

I poke holes in the crust with a long fork to keep it from bubbling up in the oven.

I baked the crust for 12 minutes in the oven at 475 degrees. It was crisp the way I like it.

I took the crust out and spread garlic past in the center. I painted the outer rim of the crust with virgin olive oil.

I didn’t use all of the slices I prepared – no room. There were seven slices of Chlorizo and seven slices of sweet potato in the final pizza.

We chopped slices of Chlorizo (a kind of salami), sweet potatoes and a half cup of chopped Kale.

I spread the tomato paste. then laid out the mozzarella slices (I don’t like gooey gobs of cheese on my pizza, the slices are thin. Mozzarella ground also works for light pizza.

I placed the Chlorizo and sweet potatoes in a circle alternating one then the other.

I sprinkled the Kale around and then added a fistful of sprouts. I put three or four tomato slices in between.

I sprinkled some more olive oil around the toppings to keep them moist.

I placed them all in the oven for 14 minutes, same temperature. Next time I’ll bake the potato slices first, even though I read that I didn’t need to do that, they were a touch harder than I wanted them to be. But very good.

I thought this pizza was successful, I loved the flavor. I like figuring out the arrangements of the ingredients, a way we can put our own stamp on the pizzas.

Next few times, and for most of the year, I’m going meatless, clams, vegetables, etc. I think some – not all – storm pizzas can do with a bit of sausage or other meat for warmth and comfort in a storm.

But mostly, I want to go meatless, for health and lightness.

Chicken sausage is a light meat, when it comes to that.

I’m also learning to appreciate the flavor of vegetables, this is all relatively new to me.