Make pizza night every night with a basic dough recipe, unexpected topping combinations, and complementary side dishes.
No matter what the first day of a new week throws at you, no matter how looming the rest of the days before the weekend seem, a truly, madly delicious pizza promises something familiar, something reliable, something known. It's confirmation that all the heaviness of the world will be held at bay—if only for a little while—by a combination of bubbling mozzarella, sweet fennel sausage, and balsamic-glazed radicchio.
Beginning with the "Mother Crust" recipe, Lenzer argues that pizza dough is a tabula rasa for whatever healthy fresh ingredients you have on hand. To make pizza a nightly affair, she suggests preparing the dough on Sunday—in less than 30 minutes—freezing it, and simply transferring it to the fridge to thaw on the morning you plan to cook. Lenzer gives the timestrapped home cook countless combinations for a healthy, delicious (and quick!) weeknight meal.
Balancing lighter healthy alternatives like Summer Squash with Lemon Zest and Ricotta with indulgent options such as Spicy Shredded Pork with Sweet Onion Jam and Burrata, in addition to bonus recipes including "Salad thoughts," "Small bites," and even a few ideas about wine, this book covers all the bases. Lenzer's comforting voice adds a homey touch to her artisanal recipes and immaculately styled photos.
And who doesn't truly, madly love pizza?!? We've been making our own for several years now and it's SO worth it. Not hard to do, but goodness gracious the flavor! I have to admit I have my go-to toppings and this book is just what I needed to encourage me to be a bit more adventurous. Plus, I love Lenzer's writing: a smear of sauce, dollop of oil, a tangle of vegetables.. so evocative. I also like how when describing the dish, she transports herself (and her reader) to far-away locales. I guess I'll need to shell out bucks for my own copy.
I love pizza - especially homemade pizza, so I was really excited to check out this cookbook! I like that the author first gives a basic pizza dough recipe with a whole wheat variation included. Then she talks about a few sauce recipes and then gets into "whole" pizza recipes. Of course you can put any number of toppings on pizza, but there were a few combinations that I'd like to try. Overall, a good basic pizza cookbook.
We make homemade pizza once a week around here, so I liked the idea of this cookbook to mix things up a bit. However, most of the recipes required ingredients that are fairly hard to come by at my grocery store, or are expensive. Ingredients like pâte didn't seem practical for us.
Pizza combinations aside, this book was enthralling! I felt sucked in by the author's words, everyone's favorite night is pizza night! So why not make it better homemade? Why not try crazy stuff? And, I agree that pizza should be a regular affair.
Fantastic cookbook if only for the crust alone, but there's so much more. First off, this is very well written. One doesn't just get the steps of how to make a great dough, but also the why. Lenzer's style is informal and friendly. Right out of the gate, the family raved about the the pizzas, and it was so easy.
There are a ton of recipes using fresh ingredients that will stretch your concept of what can go on a pizza. I made the Leek Jam with Mushrooms and Gruyere... So good. Also made the Broccoli Rabe pesto and Sweet Italian Sausage... Wow!
No fancy stones needed. Did it right on a sheet pan.
We are taught that homemade pizza is laborious and never quite as good as the stuff made in fancy ovens. This book reveals quickly that is not the case. From a few devoted minutes of work to the openness of using leftovers as toppings, the suggestions here thrill and delight. I can't wait for pizza night. Some of the suggestions here were exciting but most were far too predictable to merit 5 stars. I'm sure they are all good but I want something to challenge me. The memories shared in this book also make it an interesting read.
I received this book from the goodreads first reads giveaway, and I'm so happy I did! It's a treasure trove of pizza recipes! Suzanne Lenzer's tone is humorous, and the recipes are easy to follow and exciting, I look forward to trying them. (Sweet potato and sage with pecorino!) There are lots of great tidbits of information about ingredients, some anecdotes, how she came upon her perfect crust, variations, tricks, etc. really enjoyable book, and a great resource.
If I am not careful I will gain a lot of weight with this book. Everything I have tried has been exceptional. If you like pizza and would like great taste and a few easy short cuts, this is for you!
I have now used several of the recipes. I am using a cauliflower crust and these recipes help maintain a lower carb lifestyle. Truly wonderful food.
All kinds of yummy stuff to put on pizza crust: leek jam, balsamic-glzed radicchio (love salad stuff on pizza), prosciutto & figs & even parsnip ribbons. The recipe for crème bruleed almonds looks awesome.