Written Recipes

I’m currently exploring some of Pizzeria Basta’s great pizzas.  The word Basta means “enough” in Italian.  I think that word offers a great insight into Kelly’s cooking in general.  With Basta he created a pizzeria restaurant that showcases delicious foods in a simple and pure way.  He also wants everything to be “touched by the fire,” so literally everything eventually sees some time in his custom wood fired oven, either…Read More…

When we first began contemplating what Pizza Quest could be as a Travel/Food Series, one of our early goals was that the show would vicariously transport viewers around the world as we journeyed on our quest to find the secrets to that perfect pizza. I wanted people to feel what I had when I first read Peter’s book, “American Pie: My Search for the Perfect Pizza”.  As I read the…Read More…

Morphed Pizza Dough with Mushrooms, Blueberries and Spinach   Lately I have been thinking about morphing a sourdough crust dough with a commercially yeasted crust dough and combining the best qualities of both. Using a sourdough levain or starter in your pizza dough can make a significant flavor and texture difference. The sourdough starter adds acidity to the dough which affects strength and flavor. The commercial yeast helps the crust…Read More…

How can I use crab on a pizza?  I had crab – if not just out of the ocean fresh it was caught by my friends steamed and brought home to me.  In my mind that’s far better than just caught fresh any day!  As I hope you’ve already read, I had decided to make one pizza with some of the fresh cracked crab placed on top of the warm…Read More…

Somewhere around mid-November every year the Dungeness Crabs of the West Coast begin to make their journey from the sea to our plates.  This fact did not go under-utilized by our friends, the Wildermuth’s, who had invited us to join them on their trip to Oregon for the Thanksgiving Holiday.  Due to family obligations we were unable to attend.  We wanted to; we always do.  We’ve had a standing invitation…Read More…

Being last isn’t always a bad thing.  As I often say, one of my favorite pizzas to make is the one that develops with left over ingredients or by chance.  Making pizzas is no small task.  You don’t generally just make one pizza – at home anyway.  You prep and throw a few pies together because it’s a bit of work and the operation does create a bit of a…Read More…

I’m still working on my Pizza Quest Signature Pizza series.  I set out to make a few versions to try with a glass or two of my Birra Basta.  I can’t just let the keg sit there, right?  It was all created to be used; The Bruery didn’t brew this beer to pour it down the drain.  The makers of my “new” kegerator surely wanted beer to flow through it. …Read More…

I love our Signature Pizza.  I didn’t come up with the recipe but, I was a part of the creation of the question, and the following ideas, that ultimately came together to become it.  I think how lucky we were to have Peter come up with a brand new dough that brought beer into the pizza – a pizza being designed to be paired with a beer that was to…Read More…

Pizza Quest was an idea that popped into my mind a couple of years ago.  I called my buddy Jeff about the book I just read  – Peter’s “American Pie: My Search for the Perfect Pizza”.  Not long after I was corresponding with Peter and Jeff about how we could make this idea a show.  It still isn’t a show on TV, but we have launched the website and if…Read More…

I think the Marinara Pizza may be many pizzaiolos favorite to make.  It is a pizza pie with no cheese and I think reflects the skill and passion of a pizza maker’s ability to evoke deep flavors from such simple ingredients.  I remember asking Pizzeria Basta’s Kelly Whitaker what his favorite pizza was to make and he said, without hesitation that it was the Marinara.  He said, “My favorite pizza…Read More…