Two University of Connecticut seniors have just received a piece of the pie. Dining Services announced the winners for this year’s Senior Slice competition: a mashed potato pizza topped with bacon, mozzarella, caramelized onion, cherry tomato and basil and a vegan pie with spicy red sauce, vegan sausage, vegan mozzarella, cherry tomato, spinach and basil.
Every year UConn Dining Services hosts the contest, where students can submit different combinations for the year’s special flavor. The senior class votes to select two winners every year — an omnivorous pizza and a vegan pizza.
Bryan Lozano, an analytics and information management major, designed the mashed potato-bacon slice and explained his home-spun inspiration.
“Born and raised in New Haven, my love for pizza has been a constant throughout my life. I still remember the first time I tried New Haven-style pizza as a kid — the richness of flavor and history stuck with me,” Lozano said.
New Haven, on Connecticut’s shoreline, is officially regarded as the “Pizza Capital of the United States” and has played a starring role in pizza history, with its distinctive apizza (pronounced “a-beetz”) originating at the turn of the last century from world-famous establishments on Wooster Street like Frank Pepe’s and Sally’s.
“I’d say it’s a mix of two iconic pies, the mashed potato and bacon pizza from BAR [near the campus of Yale University] …and the potato and rosemary special from Sally’s,” Lozano said. “For my own twist, I added cherry tomatoes and fresh basil to bring a pop of brightness and a balance of flavor.”
This year’s vegan winner was designed by molecular and cell biology student Nazanin Zaer, in a traditional style.
“I am not vegan, but I try to make environmentally conscious choices as much as possible,” Zaer said. “My uncle works at a pizza place, and he always makes my family a tomato and spinach pizza, so I definitely drew inspiration from him.”
Making a vegan pizza that tastes good too is no small feat — the traditional cheese base and popular toppings would have to be substituted. UConn Dining Services’ plant-forward initiative affords the campus vegetarian and vegan ingredients and options at all campus facilities.
“I’m actually a big fan of the vegan sausage and cheese here at UConn, having tried them at the Wilbur Cross café before,” Zaer said. “I wanted the vegan pizza to be very similar to a normal pizza someone might order.”
Students designing pizzas as part of the competition were able to choose ingredients from Dining Services’ list of toppings and sauces. UConn’s chefs then narrow down the selection to six finalists, with three each non-vegan and vegan choices. Members of the senior class voted to select the winning slices, and the designers won a “party pack” of their pies to share with friends.
This year’s winning slices will be served during lunch on Thursday, May 1 at McMahon dining hall.
“I’m really excited to try a slice for the first time [on] Thursday — just in time to kick off the Senior Send-Off the following day,” Lozano said. “I love that my Senior Slice will forever be immortalized in UConn history — it feels like the perfect way to wrap up my senior year!”
“I hope people like the pizza, and I hope even those who aren’t vegan will give it a try,” Zaer added. “My friends aren’t vegan either, but they all liked the pizza, too!”
The Senior Slice was inaugurated in 2021 and was inspired in part by the long-running Senior Scoop tradition, also sponsored by Dining Services alongside the senior class committee, where students have been voting for the year’s commemorative ice cream flavor to be served at the Dairy Bar since 2012.
Last year’s Senior Slice winners included an alfredo slice with crispy chicken and pesto and a vegan garlic-oil based pizza with crispy tofu and arugula.
For more information about the program and to view past winning slices, visit dining.uconn.edu/senior-slice.