Bianco: Pizza, Pasta and Other Food I Like―Delicious Italian Recipes from Chris Bianco's Kitchen

by Chris Bianco

Finalist for the Gourmand Awards (Italian category)

The highly anticipated cookbook from the chef behind “the best pizza in America”

When Chris Bianco started Pizzeria Bianco inside the back corner of a neighborhood grocery store in 1988, he had no idea that he would be a driving force in the artisanal pizza movement. All he knew was that his food would be the result of his relationships with farmers, local producers, customers, and staff, reflecting the respect and sincere intention that he brings to each of his recipes.

Now the owner of a legendary pizza mecca and a James Beard award-winning chef, Chris Bianco brings us a full-color, fully illustrated cookbook illuminating the fundamentals of pizza making, from the basics of flour and water to the philosophy behind Bianco’s cooking. The book features recipes for his signature pies as well as strategies and techniques for translating chef’s methods to the home kitchen.

Bianco celebrates both the simple and the nuanced, revealing the methods that lead to the perfect crust, the sweetest tomato sauce, the creamiest mozzarella, and the most expertly balanced flavor combinations. It also features recipes for market salads, tasting plates, and dessert options, as well as the staff meals that are cooked behind the scenes and a new array of main courses showcased at Chris’s wildly popular restaurants. With its attention to detail and tips for making unforgettable, flavorful pies, Bianco is an essential companion for any serious pizza maker.

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking, Food, Nonfiction, Culinary, Reference

224 pages, Hardcover

Published July 25, 2017

Reviews

[Jenny · Rating 5 out of 5]

I never used to read cookbooks. I would page through, looking at recipes and pictures, choosing what I might try, but not delving into the stories behind the recipes. Perhaps the cookbooks themselves have changed. This one was fun to dive into.

Since I live in Phoenix, I have been to Chris Bianco's restaurants many times. Seriously good pizza, breads, amazing salads. I have heard that the pasta dishes are wonderful as well, but I don't tend to order pasta in restaurants. Don't know why- something for me to think about. Anyway, the fact that he wrote a cookbook, so I can try my hand at recreating the yummyness (I am sure that is a word) at home is something I am looking forward to. Of course I will have to buy pizza stone, and something called a pizza peel. The book states that I could use a upturned baking sheet instead, but I may as well do it the right way. So, shopping is in my near future.

This weekend, I will be hitting the farmers market, and trying one or two of the salads that are in the book.

It is fun, especially in this case, when I have tasted the food before, to learn about how the recipes came to light. Bianco's love of using local ingredients, and finding the right balance between different flavors and textures, is a joy to read about. It gives the restaurant experiences that I have had even more depth, and I look forward to dining there again as well as trying to make these wonderful meals at home.

If you visit Phoenix, go to Pizzeria Bianco, or Pane Bianco. If you just want to try your hand at making really good pizza, give this book a try.

[Beth Cato · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good cookbook should inspire a person to cook. Perhaps the very attitude of Bianco turned me off from the start after he recommended the reader make friends with their local wheat grower to get access to fresh-made flour. That's nice. Nice, and not the slightest bit realistic. I feel like I'm splurging when I get King Arthur Bread Flour.

Reading through, there's a strong sense that Chris Bianco is an excellent cook who loves food. I'd eat in his restaurants for sure. But I found very few of these recipes were ones I'd want to attempt at home. It didn't help that many recipes did not have a photograph, which is a must to me; I read the ebook so I don't know if this is a problem with the print edition as well. The existing photographs are lovely, though. It just needs more, which is the feeling I was left with overall: I wanted more, and the book didn't deliver.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

This seems to be a cookbook for Chris Bianco's restaurant's dishes. I think a lot of the dishes would be a pleasure to eat. A number were intriguing; I'd gladly eat them if someone else made them, but not many of them made me want to cook like books of Alton Brown, Michael Pollan, and Marc Vetri (among others) have done.

The three things I didn't like about the book were:
1. the "Copy/Paste" method of writing the recipes. Each page was written as a standalone, so the entire instruction list was typed out, including the asides, every time.
2. I don't remember seeing a photo of the author smiling. Every photo of him (outside of childhood) that I recall had him scowling in the heat of the oven or grunting in labor over dough. My initial thoughts before reading about his heartwarming love for his family was, "does this guy even like his job?"
3. Bianco is guilty of spouting off like most well-awarded chefs that no longer walk around in the normal world--telling the reader to skip on down to the local granary and strike up a lifelong relationship with the miller so she can source locally grown ultra-organic wheat from the neighborhood farmer and grind it for you using the 16th century technology they have lying around. You know, just another day at the office.
Those chefs and bakers can do that. They go through tons and tons of product each year. Normal people often have to check if their whole grain flour went rancid since last time it was used, and the only miller they know is Brenda Miller who used to work in HR at the home office.

[Ietrio · Rating 2 out of 5]

It might as well be called the starch book. With some salads thrown in.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great reflection of the author

This book was quite different than what I was expecting! It's not completely a pizza book -- it's exactly what the full title indicates, recipes for pizza AND other food he likes. Once you read the book's exposition and autobiography, his editorial approach completely makes sense. Usually, this book seems to be described as a kind of pizza manifesto. It isn't. It's a very interesting cookbook containing a number of different types of recipes by a very interesting guy who really cares about what he does. His story, combined with some very nice photos, is what the book is actually about. It SHOULD be titled Bianco. It delivers a very nice sense of HIM. Thank you!

[S Vanorse · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am confused as to why Bianco would give a long description of his Mom's Sunday Gravy and how she would start it at breakfast, he would would think about that sauce simmering whilst at a long church service, how good it was but tell you in his recipe to only cook it 1 to 2 hours, doesn't make sense. Gravy, sauce whatever needs a long simmer, especially with all that meat, as his tells you in the recipe, until the meat is tender and falling off the bone, isn't going to happen in an hour.

[Liz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beautiful and fun to read, but not something I would turn to every week. I'm glad I borrowed it from the library. The pizza dough recipe produced crusts a little lighter than the ones I usually make with my go-to Mark Bittman recipe, but Bianco's recipe also takes quite a bit more backwards planning and effort. The crushed tomato pizza sauce is a keeper. Many of the recipes look delicious but also look like more trouble than I usually go to for dinner.

[Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

The recipes are fine. I don't think they are any better than what is out there already. The personal anecdotes are great. I was just hoping for more personal anecdotes.

[Tammy · Rating 4 out of 5]

You get the sense that Chris Bianco is very passionate about his craft, the food, and family and it's my favorite part of the book. I'm what you can consider a lazy home cook. Whatever shortcuts I can take is what I'll utilize for our weekday dinners. I plan more intricate and time consuming meals for the weekends but honestly our weekends are so busy that it's rare to find us spending long hours in the kitchen.

I still felt as though I gained a lot of knowledge and tips from Bianco's book, even if the majority of his recipes are out of my comfort level.

[Crystal · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bianco is as close as we get to Arizona celebrity - that is probably going to be widely disputed & replaced by a sports figure. Agree to disagree. This book is great and while pizza making is something I prefer to outsource - his lasagna will forever be how I make lasagna.

[Haley Sorensen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A few of my favorite recipes ever from this book but also some disappointments. Highly recommend the lemon pasta, pasta dough and lemon cookie recipes. Don't recommend the bolognese or the chicken cacciatore.

[Andréa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Note: I accessed a digital review copy of this book through Edelweiss.

[Ryen O'Meara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Red-and-white checkered table cloth? Can you imagine the food there? It’s in here

[Amandanoel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Truly delightful commentary and I look forward to trying some of the recipes. I wish there were even more stories. Hoping that making some of the recipes vegetarian won't take away too much of the perfect balance Bianco seems to strive for in all his recipes 💗

[Aleece · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

Yum. Lots of great recipes.

I received this advanced copy from Ecco through Edelweiss in exchange for my honest review.

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of recipes to try