Wednesday, March 10, 2021

Cookbook: Genuine Pizza


We love our pizzas here at my house, and we've never forgotten the pizza we ate in Rome in 2018. I was delighted to receive this book as a birthday present. The author, Michael Schwartz, created the Genuine Pizza restaurants. 


Schwartz tells us that there are several different kinds of pizza dough out there. He has chosen to take the most famous, the original Neapolitan dough, with nothing but flour, yeast, water, and salt, and add honey and beer. 

Here is his Pizza Dough recipe:

1/2 cup beer, at room temperature
2 tablespoons mild honey
1 packet active dry yeast
3 cups plus 6 tablespoons bread flour
1/2 cup whole-wheat flour
1 tablespoon salt
2 tablespoons olive oil

There is quite a bit of mixing and waiting and kneading to this recipe, but the instructions are too detailed to list here. It makes enough for four pizzas.

The tomato sauce Schwartz recommends is simple, with olive oil, tomatoes, salt, pepper.


One of the charms of the books, though, is that it offers simple for those of us who like simple, but it also offers complexity for those of us who prefer that. There are many pizza preferences in the world, and the book speaks to that, sharing combinations and recipes for every taste.

I made the Classic Cheese Pizza. The recipe uses pizza dough, tomato sauce, and 2/3 cup of cheese (Schwartz specifies Fontina cheese) along with salt and red pepper and 2 tablespoons of Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese.

The oven and the baking stone are both preheated to 500 degrees. It cooks for ten minutes, and Schwartz looks for the crust to be rich brown and burnished, but we like our pizza a little less burned.



Happy with the result.

22 comments:

  1. Deb, this books looks great (print size that isn't too small from the looks of it) and, the pizza came out fabulous it appears. Thanks for sharing.

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  2. Can't go wrong with pizza. It's a complete food group.

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  3. Much as I like Pizza I think it is too much hassle to make at home and it would never be as good as the ones I had in one restaurant or the ones in Italy I had

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  4. I love pizza and this book sounds great for those who want to cook one. The picture of your pizza does make my mouth water, but (lazy me) I'll probably stick to take-out!

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  5. Oh, thank you for giving the recipe! We seldom eat pizza, because I like the ones without a lot ot tomato and cheese! Had my first pizza in Venice (I am from the Netherlands, where in that time pizza was not well known like it always was in the USA, Jesh

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  6. Now I'm craving pizza. My late mother in law visited Italy twice in her 60's, and was amazed at what they called pizza there - she loved it (and other dishes, too). In fact, everyone I know who has had pizza in Italy has loved it. It's nice to know that it can be somewhat duplicated here.

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  7. Love pizza made from scratch although it's been years since I've made it, that looks very good!

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  8. Looks lovely! I've never heard of beer in the dough. Did it contribute much? We eat a lot of pizza around here, especially in winter, when it's ok to heat up the house...

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    1. I didn't notice much of a taste difference with the beer. However, I still have five more containers of beer and I will use them up making more pizza.

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    2. I wondered... ;-) I did a sourdough once or twice & I'm not sure I noticed much difference. I have good luck with a wheat dough, depending on the toppings.

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  9. I might have to get this book for Rick, my resident pizza maker! Lots of good sounding ideas!

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  10. I've made homemade pizza crust in my bread maker and it was really good. Your pizza looks good.

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  11. I love pizza @ this is a book I may want to check out! Pizza in Rome sounds amazing.

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  12. Very good-looking pizza you have in that photo. A good dough recipe helps a lot when you want the best of home-made.

    be safe... mae at maefood.blogspot.com

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  13. My brother in law makes his own dough and it is delicious! Might have to give this a go.

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  14. I have this book too. And love homemade pizza. Your pizza looks awesome!!!

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  15. Than dough sounds great. I have to be honest, pizza is about the only time I eat white flour foods! As much as I want to be pure in my food choices, pizza I cannot do without...

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  16. We've never made homemade pizza but this book makes me think we are missing out! Yours looks so delicious.

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  17. Your pizza look so good, and there is nothing like pizza in Rome and Naples. Are you watching Stanley Tucci's Searching for Italy on CNN? It's wonderful.

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