PizzaExpress From Italy With Love: 100 Favourite Recipes to Make at Home

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I see the “Jim Lahey no-knead” method pop up all the time across internet forums and comments – I think people just love its simplicity. The book is presented very well with dough recipes, topping recipes, and other suitable accompaniments. The author, Marc Vetri, trained as a chef in Italy before returning to the States and opening a number of acclaimed restaurants, and writing a number of books. It shows – the book is well laid out and presents a wealth of information from outstanding research. The first few chapters are on the art and science of pizza – mainly ovens, flour, and dough. They follow Marc’s visits to Italian pizza legends like Franco Pepe. You can skip these chapters if you just want to get making pizza and go straight into the recipes.

Sicilian style has a chapter and covers how to cook the dough in a sheet pan instead of stretching. It has some tasty recipe ideas like the Purple Potato and Pancetta and the Grandma Pie. This book goes down a similar vein to The Elements Of Pizza. It’s super in-depth and well researched on the fundamentals which make great pizza. Allow the mixture to stand for 10-15 minutes in a warm place (we find a windowsill on a sunny day works best) until froth develops on the surface.It has chapters on the history, all the different styles, the ingredients, methods, and equipment, all before going into the dough recipes and the actual pizza topping recipes themselves. Arslan Sharif, digital & loyalty director at PizzaExpress, said: “The PizzaExpress Club was designed to reward our loyal customers and offer them great instant value - with free food or drink items every time they dine with us. To celebrate reaching one million customers joining our generous digital rewards programme, we're giving everyone a free drink to say thanks for being part of - or welcome to, the PizzaExpress Club. The pizza recipes are split into 3 sections of dough – thin and crispy, “Neapolitan-ish”, and pan pizza. He’s not afraid to break the rules and not follow conventions such as his Neapolitan dough.

The book has a strong focus on quality ingredients, mostly of Italian origin, and it’s this route that Jim takes in his recipes for world-class pies. It all blends very well together and is an absolute pleasure to read and eyeball all the images and recipe ideas. Pros After the American styles (half the book), we have the Italian. Wood-fired Napoletana pizza has a detailed section on dough, sauce, and mozzarella before diving into the other Italian styles like from Rome. It’s based around 3 doughs – puffy Naples style, thin and crunchy Romana, and pan pizza Al Taglio. Marc focuses on Italian recipes but with an American influence. This might be the most comprehensive pizza book out there and one I absolutely love for its recipes and coverage of basically every pizza style known. It’s written by 12-time pizza World Champion and overall pizza legend, Tony Gemignani.He then has detailed instructions on how to stretch and cook many different styles, like wood-fired Naples, home oven Naples, cast iron pizza, grilled pizza, wood-fired and home oven Romana, personal pizzas… the list goes on – it’s very thorough. What I like about this book is its unpretentious nature. Marc wants to help you make better pizza with whatever oven and tools you have available. It has a good section on making Neapolitan pizza dough and making pizza in their preferred method – using a frying pan (skillet) and placing it under the broiler to mimic a hot pizza oven. He has taken his methodical approach to bread dough to research the best dough in pizza making. Sometimes almost scientific-like, but very easily digestible for the reader. Most of them don’t follow normal preparations, so it’s quite refreshing to read all the unusual combinations. Like his spinach-based “Popeye Pie”.

Sift the flour and salt into a large mixing bowl, make a well in the middle and pour in the yeast mixture and olive oil.The book is based around this one recipe, and Jim’s tips for stretching and loading a pizza. This is then followed by an extensive list of recipes split into tomato sauce based, white sauce based, or with no sauce. Using this “master dough”, the book then covers many styles. It’s primarily a US-based pizza book so covers regional American pizzas first like New York, New Jersey, Detroit, and St Louis. Rather than listing every pizza style known, it focuses on the important bits of dough – the flour, fermentation, different ovens, and tools. Very minor, but I find his dough balling technique a little unconventional where he folds it in on itself. I prefer the Pizza Bible method. That being said, it’s a great book for its insights. As Falco now consults restaurants, this book would also be ideal for someone looking to start a business. Pros

California style is a chapter that rounds up a mix of unconventional recipes, ancient-grain flours, and surprising flavors.

What I like about this book is that it’s from an actual New York-rooted pizza expert. A lot of the other pizza books are from Italians or US bread bakers with an interest in pizza. So it’s good to have a proper NY one too, naturally, it focuses on more American styles of pizza. There are the usual sections on flour, tomatoes, cheese, and equipment that you find in other pizza books. The first chapter is a “Masterclass” on making pizza and goes through step by step each part of the pizza-making process.