Pizza: Any Way You Slice It (Easy Recipes for Great Homemade Pizzas, Focaccia, and Calzones)

Can't resist the warm, enticing aroma of a perfect homemade pizza with a crisp crust topped with creamy mozzarella and juicy tomatoes? Now you can become an expert pizza maker using Charles and Michele Scicolone's Pizza--Any Way You Slice It.??Their simple techniques and 100 innovative recipes will have you making top-quality, authentic pizza right in your own kitchen.

Inspired by a trip to Naples, the birthplace of pizza, Charles and Michele became determined to find ways to duplicate their favorite dish at home.??Charles, who didn't even know the difference between a teaspoon and a tablespoon, had to start from the beginning.??He made pizza after pizza, and soon Charles, who had never cooked anything in his life, was able to make perfect pizza from scratch.??Friends were amazed not just by how good Charles's pizzas were, but by how simple his techniques were.

Now, after mastering the art of making pizza, the Scicolones share their easy-to-follow tips and shortcuts: from mixing, kneading, and shaping the dough to choosing the right toppings.??Pizza--Any Way You Slice It includes Italian classics, such as Pizza Margherita (tomatoes, mozzarella, and basil) and Florentine Pizza (with spinach), and pizza American style, with favorites like Chicago Sausage and Cheese Deep-Dish Pie and New Haven White Clam Pizza.??And there are easy recipes for unique stuffed pizzas, Italian regional pizzas, focaccia, and flatbreads--something for every taste.

Rounding out this comprehensive pizza book are recipes for pizza accompaniments, pizza history and trivia, a suggested wine list, and a list of the Scicolones' favorite pizzerias in the United States and Italy.??With Pizza--Any Way You Slice It, you're just one recipe away from perfect pizza at home.


From the Hardcover edition.

Pizza--the tender-crisp crust, savory tomato topping, and bubbling, toothsome cheese. And the trip to the pizzeria--until now. With unprecedented clarity, Charles and Michele Scicolone's Pizza: Any Way You Slice It provides the step-by-step basics and 100 recipes to make authentic pizza, focaccia, and calzones at home. The Scicolones' explicit instructions, tips, and shortcuts--plus precise illustrations--make mixing, kneading, and shaping the dough--as well as preparing toppings--remarkably easy. Even timid cooks will find themselves achieving toasty crusts that balance crispness and chewiness perfectly (hint: a little flour sprinkled on the baking stone adds smoky flavor) and toppings that far surpass the pizzeria's in freshness and taste.

The recipes are international. Traveling from Palermo to Chicago, from Naples to Brooklyn, the Scicolones have gathered recipes for such classics as Pizza Margherita (made with tomatoes, mozzarella, and basil) and Spicy Pizza Marinara; new Italian favorites including Eggplant Parmesan Pizza and Pizza with Prosciutto and Arugula; and American pies such as Garlic and Cheese Pizza Bianca and Chicago Deep-Dish Pizza with Sausage and Cheese. Among the focaccia and other flatbread recipes is a must-make focaccia studded with pancetta and rosemary. Included also are suggestions for starters, salads, and side dishes, as well as wine and beer suggestions. Color photos present the pies in all their glory (and profile the all-important crusts), and there's a glossary of necessary equipment and ingredients. In Pizza: Any Way You Slice It, the Scicolones have included everything a pizza-lover needs to start baking beautiful homemade pies. --Arthur Boehm