The Perfect Pizza

Learn to make exceptional sourdough pizza at home with this groundbreaking, comprehensive guide from the New York Times bestselling and James Beard Award–winning author of The Perfect Loaf.

Long before he founded the website The Perfect Loaf and became one of the go-to experts on sourdough baking, Maurizio Leo grew up in his family’s pizzeria, watching his dad cook countless pies. In The Perfect Pizza, he returns to his roots, tackling pizza with his signature in-depth, technique-driven approach. You can make unbelievably good homemade pizza using your sourdough starter, in any style of oven, and Maurizio is here to show you how.

The key to making incredible pizza at home lies in making a great dough. Rather than relying on a few master dough recipes like most pizza books, The Perfect Pizza provides unique recipes for more than forty specialty pizza styles, meticulously tested to achieve the best flavor and texture. With helpful QR codes and step-by-step photographs, Maurizio dives into the technique behind creating and maintaining a sourdough starter, mixing dough, managing dough fermentation, and the handling skills needed for balling, stretching, and finally launching the pizza into the oven.

Once you get the hang of the process, you can try out a wide range of  pizza styles, starting with familiar classics before exploring doughs that incorporate whole grains and freshly-milled flour, focaccias, and little-known authentic, regional Italian specialties. The expertly tested recipes include:

• Essentials: My Go-To Pizza Dough; Same-Day Pizza Dough; A Pizza and a Loaf
• American and Italian Styles: New York Style; Tavern Style; Sicilian Style; Pizza al Taglio; Pizza Bianca; Pizza Tonda Romana
• Exploring Flours and Grains: Sixty-Forty Whole Grain Pizza Dough; Toasted Flour Pizza Dough; A Touch of Rye Pizza Dough
• Focaccia: A Simple Focaccia; Crispy High-Hydration Focaccia; 100% Whole Grain Focaccia; Focaccia with Chocolate-Hazelnut Spread