Palermo, North Massapequa: Home of zeppole pizza

Say hello to zeppole pizza, an invention both zany and inspired. It's the hottest thing going at the months-old Palermo Pizzeria, a combo pizza parlor and dining room in North Massapequa.

As chef Dani Abruzzo tells it, a lightbulb went on when he dropped a freshly made ball of zeppole into a pot of marinara sauce and couldn’t resist tasting the result. Not bad. Great, in fact. So now, Abruzzo deep-fries a 10-inch crust, tops it with tomato sauce and fresh mozzarella and pops it into the pizza oven for a turn. Before serving, he dusts its rim with powdered sugar.

I was more than skeptical the afternoon I stopped into the pizzeria and ordered the pie ($12). Shockingly, it had me at bite one. Since the powdered sugar doesn’t really touch the sauce and cheese, by the time you've eaten your way to the thick rim, you're deep into hot, fresh greaseless zeppole. This is a pie you’ll want to share, since a single slice is every bit as filling as it is fulfilling.

In addition to offering a full roster of pizzas, the dining room features such Italian classics as linguine with white clam sauce ($16), fried calamari ($12) and chicken cacciatore ($15).

Palermo Pizzeria is at 1495 Hicksville Rd., North Massapequa, 516-731-3700.

Crazy and crazy-good: the new zeppole pizza at Palermo Pizzeria in North Massapequa