Pull Apart Pizza — Something to Share When the Smoker Takes the Night Off

October 2025. Fall in Memphis, and I am 66, walking the neighborhood in my light jacket, watching the leaves turn on the oaks and maples that line Deadrick Avenue. The smoker is happy in fall — the cooler air holds the smoke lower, keeps it closer to the meat, and the results are always a shade better in October than in July, as if the season itself is a seasoning.

Marcus and Angela in Whitehaven, building their family, their house full of the sounds I remember from our own early years — a baby's laugh, a spouse's voice, the daily music of people learning to live together. Naomi growing with the speed of childhood, each visit revealing a new word, a new capability, a new expression that catches my breath because it echoes someone I lost.

I made smoked chicken this week — a simple cook that belies its depth. Rubbed with salt, pepper, garlic, and paprika, smoked at 275 over hickory for three hours. The skin was mahogany, the meat juicy, and the first bite carried the kind of flavor that makes you close your eyes, which is the highest compliment food can earn: the involuntary closing of the eyes, the body's admission that what it's tasting is too good to see.

Another week in the book. Another seven days of tending fires — the one in the smoker, the one in the marriage, the one in the family, the one in the church. Each fire needs something different: wood, attention, food, faith. But the tending is the same for all of them: show up, add what's needed, wait patiently, trust the process. Low and slow. Always. Low and slow.

The smoked chicken was mine to tend alone — just me, the hickory, and the October air — but some food is meant to be pulled apart by many hands at once. When Marcus and Angela have the family over and little Naomi is reaching across the table, I want something that meets that energy: easy, communal, impossible to eat without laughing. This Pull Apart Pizza is exactly that kind of recipe, the kind where everybody gets a piece and nobody stands on ceremony, and the tending required is nothing more than a hot oven and ten minutes of prep.

Pull Apart Pizza

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 25 min | Total Time: 40 min | Servings: 8

Ingredients

• 2 cans (16 oz each) refrigerated biscuit dough, cut into quarters
• 1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1/2 cup mini pepperoni slices
• 1/4 cup green bell pepper, finely diced
• 1/4 cup black olives, sliced
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
• 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
• 1 cup marinara or pizza sauce, warmed, for dipping

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven. Heat oven to 375°F. Lightly grease a 10- or 12-inch cast iron skillet or a 9x13-inch baking dish with cooking spray or butter.
2. Season the butter. In a large bowl, whisk together the melted butter, garlic powder, Italian seasoning, onion powder, and red pepper flakes if using.
3. Coat the dough. Add the quartered biscuit pieces to the bowl and toss until each piece is well coated in the seasoned butter.
4. Layer and fill. Arrange half the dough pieces in an even layer in the prepared pan. Scatter half the mozzarella, pepperoni, bell pepper, and olives over the top. Add the remaining dough pieces, then top with the remaining cheese and toppings.
5. Bake until golden. Bake for 23–27 minutes, until the top is deep golden brown and the center is cooked through. A toothpick inserted in the middle should come out clean of raw dough.
6. Rest and serve. Let the pizza rest for 5 minutes before serving directly from the pan. Serve warm marinara sauce alongside for dipping.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 310 | Protein: 11g | Fat: 16g | Carbs: 32g | Fiber: 1g | Sodium: 780mg