It's not every day I get to take my work home with me, cook it, eat it, enjoy it, and then write about it in order to share the experience with you fine folks. But in the case of the new Insight Editions book, "The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Pizza Cookbook", that's exactly what I did! Initially, I wanted to tackle the tome's 65 recipes over roughly a two-month period, but 9 out of 10 doctors recommended against it. (The sanity of the 10th, Dr. Baxter Stockman, has been called into question by my fellow Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle fans.) But if Leonardo, Donatello, Michelangelo, and Raphael ever taught me anything, it's that winners never quit, so I forged ahead and chose five recipes from the cookbook that made for one totally tubular chow session.

You can do the same once "The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Pizza Cookbook" hits shelves on May 9th. Written by Peggy Paul Casella, a cookbook writer/editor and the creator of ThursdayNightPizza.com--a food blog centered on making weekly pizzas from scratch--these weird and wonderful flavor combinations are all inspired by the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon. The recipes range from old-school classics like the New York Style Pepperoni, to modern masterpieces like Lean, Mean, and Green, and Shredder's Revenge. There's even breakfast pizzas, mini-pizzas, party pizzas, and dessert pizzas, along with cooking skill instructions, healthy eating tips, and a party planning guide. Adding a visual flair to the mouth-watering recipes are gorgeous (and instructive) photographs from Albert Yee, a professional photographer and devoted lover of food, particularly pizza. Take a look at some of Yee's shots of Casella's work below, along with a review of my five chosen pizza courses that included zany twists on classic recipes, straight-up bonkers pizzas, and a delectable dessert that is made for sharing (Did I actually share it though? I'll never tell.)

First Course: A Classic with a Twist

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Image via Insight Editions

You can't get much more classic than a New York-style pepperoni pizza, and that's where Casella kicks off the cookbook's recipe section. However, there's a fantastic introductory chapter that teaches basic cooking techniques, provides a list of necessary kitchen equipment and pantry items, and lays out a variety of homemade dough and sauce recipes. This is a great resource in and of itself that gives readers and burgeoning cooks everything they need in order to start tossing pizzas together, eventually building to their own unique receipes, the crazier the better.

One of the twists on the classic pepperoni is Casella's Pepperoni and Sweet Pickle Pie. (And you just knew that Michelangelo was featured on this page, didn't you?) It adds the sweet and tangy crunch of bread-and-butter pickle chips to the familiar flavors of the salty, spicy pepperoni. This mash-up might just be my favorite of the bunch, but it's not the wildest one by far.

Second Course: Breakfast Time Is Pizza Time

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Image via Insight Editions

A famous scholar television advertisement once said, and I paraphrase, "Pizza in the morning, pizza in the evening, pizza at suppertime; you can have pizza anytime." If ever there was a motto of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, this would be it! You can start your day off like Splinter's students with this pizza that combines bacon, eggs, heavy cream and fresh chives for a winning breakfast.

But breakfast isn't the only time for eggs, just like it's not the only time for pizza. Another recipe, the Shakshuka, takes inspiration from a Middle Eastern dish by using roasted red peppers, paprika, and smoky, baked eggs. It's one of the most non-pizza pizzas I've ever eaten and it's delicious. The cooking process is a little more involved and a little messier than simply stacking toppings and popping the pie in the oven, but it's worth the extra effort. And it's even vegetarian-friendly!

Third Course: Not for the Faint of Heart

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Image via Insight Editions

And now we come to it, the Beast of the Yeast, the Devilish Deep-Dish, the Mutant Monstrosity that is the goulash pizza. Just look at that thing! It's got a pound of dough, a half-pound of ground beef, 2 cups of elbow macaroni, half a yellow onion, half a red bell pepper, and a can each of diced tomatoes and tomato sauce. That's nuts!

Oh, I'm now being told that it's inadvisable to attempt to eat this by yourself in one sitting. Too late, but I did use a homemade whole wheat dough, so at least it's healthy now, right? In all seriousness, this thing will feed a small army for one meal or a small person for a few days at least. Think of it as a pizza-shaped lasagna and the whole thing starts to become a lot easier to stomach. And you should, because it's darn tasty. See how my own sample compares below:

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Fourth Course: Something Strange

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Image via Insight Editions

The idea of pineapples on pizza recently caused some international controversy, but what you do in your own home is your business. So if you want to slap pineapples (and diced ham) on a pizza and call it a Sewer Surfer, I'm fine with that. Some folks call it "Hawaiian" style, but it was actually a creation of a Canadian restaurant owner back in 1962. That's just one of the many trivia tidbits you'll find throughout Casella's cookbook, along with recipes that are equal parts original and completely wild.

Enter: April O'Neil. Not just the Turtles pal and ace reporter, April also gets her own pizza pie in this book. I was anxious to try it out since its parsnip and sweet potato "sauce" sounded similar to a favorite of mine, a "Pierogies Pizza" that's a house specialty of a pizza shop in Pittsburgh. But while the relatively more mild flavor of the "April O'Neil" didn't quite satisfy that craving, it did offer up a very different pizza-eating experience. It's also another veggie-friendly recipe, one of many to be found in this book.

Fifth Course: Something Sweet

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After you and your friends and family are down chowing down on a delicious pizza picked from the many pages of this cookbook, there's always a little room for dessert, right? Don't worry, Casella has you covered. From personal pizzas, to fruit pizzas, to cookies, cheesecake, and ice cream, there's a wide variety of both tame and wild recipes to try here.

I opted for the sugar-heavy campfire favorite, the s'mores pizza. "Gimme S'Mores!" combines a brown sugar-blended graham cracker crust with a topping of marshmallow cream/fluff, mini-marshmallows, chocolate chips, and a dusting of graham crackers. You can't beat this sweet treat, but be sure to eat it while it's warm or it'll seize up on you tougher than Rocksteady's hide. A real crowd-pleaser, this one's meant for sharing ... or secretly keeping all to yourself. I won't tell.

Look for "The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Pizza Cookbook' at your favorite retailer starting May 9th! Be sure to let me know which recipes you try out first!

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Image via Insight Editions