A pizza artist takes a whack at Fall River's Lizzie Borden. Did he kill it?

You've seen her on screen in movies and TV shows. You've seen her on bobblehead dolls and other macabre kitsch. And some claim they've seen her in spirit.

But have you seen Fall River's most infamous resident Lizzie Borden on a pizza?

For fourth-generation Rhode Island pizza maker Eric Palmieri, the city legend — acquitted of brutally murdering her father and stepmother with a hatchet in their Second Street home in 1892 — served as the inspiration for one killer pie.

Palmieri is the resident pizza artist at his family's business, D. Palmieri's Bakery. The longtime Johnston, R.I., fixture was a recent stop on Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy's "One Bite" pizza review tour.

But that wasn't what caught our attention over here in the Spindle City.

Beside their popular pizza strips, an Ocean State staple, D. Palmieri's is serving up eye-catching pizza creations — one in particular that gave us chills.

In growing his pizza portrait portfolio, Palmieri decided this past fall to take a whack at recreating Lizzie Borden's likeness on a pizza using tons of painstakingly placed fresh, tasty toppings — hold the mutton.

"I wanted to do something special for Halloween and I thought it would be a great subject matter because it's something local," he said. "People are very fascinated by the story, especially around here, so I thought it would be fun to do."

Palmieri said he knew the basics of the Borden murder case, but what really fascinated him in his most recent dive into her story as part of pizza prep was her life post-trial and acquittal.

"She lived a whole life after this thing occurred," he said. "That was even more interesting to me than the more salacious stuff with the murders ... what must that have been like for her, her family, the people who lived around there."

Did Lizzie Borden use an alias? 5 facts you never knew about Fall River's infamous murders

Recipe for a bloody good Lizzie Borden pizza

Playing with food is all in a day's work for Palmieri. Over the years, Palmieri has done many other intricately detailed edible artwork — from George Carlin to Hulk Hogan to John F. Kennedy to Homer Simpson to Sylvester Stallone — but Lizzie was one he was "really, really proud of."

According to Palmieri, Lizzie took about three hours to construct and cook. So what is the recipe he used to bring Lizzie to life?

The recipe for a pie that's pleasing to the eye as well as the taste buds at its core is simple.

Sheet pan pizza is the base, same pizza used for party strips, then pile cheese and various toppings on that.

The pizza underneath is mostly cooked, and once the toppings are arranged and the design in place, it's placed back in the oven for another six to seven minutes, just long enough to melt the cheese.

The toppings for his deadly delicious Lizzie Borden special included a lot of black olives, which he used to make her clothing, hair and facial features. Pieces of chicken were added for her face and slices of onion made up the brooch on her collar and added dimension to her hair. Then a dash of oregano for her eyes, ranch dressing for the decorative detail in her clothing, and Himalayan pink salt for the pinkish hue on her cheeks rounded out the image.

The result: a pie that's unmistakably Lizzie.

"That always feels good, when a person is recognizable," he joked.

Palmieri noted that Lizzie Borden's was one of the first pizza portraits for which he utilized AI software, which helps him to create a unique image as the basis for his design.

"Going from a photograph can be difficult to do for me, I'm not a trained artist," he said. "It's a lot easier for me to do things like cartoon characters because the lines are a lot more defined... using AI has been really helpful because it generates unique interpretations of people."

Movie, bands and ballets: 11 ways pop culture took a whack at the legend of Fall River's Lizzie Borden

From pizza maker to pizza artist

Palmieri first started dabbling in pizza art in 2015, creating an American flag pizza for a Fourth of July party, which set off requests from people for similar creations. This sparked Palmieri's passion for a different kind of pizza making, tapping into a unique, and tasty, art form.

"I tried to see how far I could take it," Palmieri said. "With enough time and practice, how good can I make these pizzas? So that was my mission from then on."

When the bakery is closed on Mondays, the kitchen doubles as Palmieri's pizza art studio. You can find him there working on his latest creations, many of which are not orders but solely for art's sake. Some images of his completed work are sold as NFTs (non-fungible tokens).

National Pizza day: From lobster to bologna, the SouthCoast has some unique slices of pizza

"It's a digital version of a certificate of authenticity. It enables you to make a digital image unique," Palmieri said. The same idea as a bitcoin, Palmieri explained, when someone buys an NFT "they're collecting the token that has the image permanently linked to it."

Other pizza portraits are aimed at drawing eyes to the bakery by being showcased on its Facebook page. He also has his own Facebook page, Eric John Pizza Artist, where he displays his work.

How does he choose his portrait subjects?

Palmieri said he makes it a point to choose things he enjoys or people who inspire him. That makes the work more enjoyable and, strangely enough, the pizza taste better.

"If I'm not really into it or it's not a subject I really care about or like, it almost feels like it doesn't come out as good as the others," he said. “I need to do something that I like personally, or I feel the art isn't going to be as good ... and it does seem to affect the quality."

His pizza work is an eclectic blend of historical and pop culture figures. He's tackled wrestlers like John Cena, comedians such as Larry David, the Star Wars universe, sports stars and music legends.

And he's always looking to challenge himself.

Last year, Palmieri created giant "many feet large" portraits — four sheet pans put together — of late musicians Amy Winehouse and Jim Morrison of The Doors, and a six-sheet-pan pizza of Queen's Freddie Mercury. His eight-sheet-pan-large pizza of a lion last year even caught the attention of a filmmaker from Seattle and was featured in a documentary.

"The pizza art has gone to crazy places," he said.

Challenges of making edible artwork

Playing with food isn't always as easy as it seems.

When it comes to using food as paint and canvas, there are some challenges, Palmieri notes. Among those is figuring out what order to do things in, since certain ingredients can present issues.

Working with pepperoni, for example. Pepperoni must get incorporated toward the end of the design process because the longer it sits out, the oils start to warm up and leak onto the pizza. And when cooking it, pepperoni must be bordered by something like olives so its coloring doesn't bleed onto the cheese, Palmieri said.

It's not Lizzie Borden: New book looks at the Fall River axe murder you never knew about

A thick layer of different types of cheese is also necessary to ensure the sauce doesn't come up through the cheese and stain the "canvas."

But, according to Palmieri, the biggest challenge of all is time.

If the pizza is intended for a party and will be eaten, it can't be sitting out for a long time and the design can't be done over the course of multiple days.

And you really need to get it right the first time, he added. Even if he's two hours into a certain design, but it's not working out as planned, there's a chance it gets scrapped and he needs to start over.

"It's kind of a one-shot deal. I have to get it right when I do it," he said.

So how many pizza portraits does Palmieri churn out in a day?

Because each piece is so time-consuming, and should be made the day of, Palmieri said he usually can only do one to two orders on any given day.

How long depends on the level of detail in the design. Portraits can typically take three to four hours — not an insignificant chunk of time, considering his many other daily responsibilities at the bakery.

He said he'll usually get an order a week or so, mostly for a party or special event.

I want one. How much does it cost?

It's a decent amount of dough for each pizza artwork, ranging from $130 to around $200 for more time-intensive, detailed portraits, but they're big. Each is a full sheet of pizza, and feeds 16 to 24 people.

Looking for your own edible work of art or want a glimpse at his collection? Check out D. Palmieri's Bakery or Eric John Pizza Artist on Facebook.

This article originally appeared on The Herald News: RI baker's Lizzie Borden pizza serves up a slice of Fall River history