Pizza Quest with Peter Reinhart

Note from Peter: I’ve been receiving a lot of requests for a proper VPN Napoletana dough. I’ve posted this previously on the Forno Bravo site, but wanted to be sure I also made it available here on PizzaQuest — especially in light of Brad’s recent post on making Margherita pizzas in two different ovens. Enjoy!! A true Naples dough uses only flour, water, salt, and yeast. Some versions substitute sourdough…Read More…

My name is Brad English and I make pizzas. I have been told by my youngest that I am “ruining pizza” for my family. Now, to be fair to myself, she’s a fickle eater! She loves my pizza when I make it her way, which is with pepperoni or salami and “regular” mozzarella, just like she can get at any of our local pizzerias. I say to her, you have…Read More…

Note from Peter: Over a year ago, when I was in Chicago for a conference, I had a chance to taste a sneak peek of Craig Priebe’s new book, The United States of Pizza (Rizzoli Publishing), a few months before it came out. Craig is the personal corporate chef for executives of a major Chicago company, and he invited me and a few guests to this private tasting in the…Read More…

Over the years, with little more than some extreme luck, I’ve been able to spend time with some of the world’s great pizza makers and enthusiasts. Pizza has a complex sub-culture that includes artisans, entrepreneurs, teachers and, on occasion, some very interesting philosophers who view our craft as a metaphor that grants insight into the nature of humanity. For the very best thinkers in the pizza world there is no…Read More…

Just heard from Norma Knepp, who was interviewed earlier this week in my post on Tuesday. She has now returned from Las Vegas where she competed for the US Championship at the Pizza Expo. She reports that she had a wonderful time, met dozens of pizza luminaries, got interviewed for PMQ TV by our friend, Albert Grande, of PizzaTherapy.com, didn’t place in the competition but had fun regardless (BTW, Nino…Read More…

 Note from Peter:  In January, I had the honor of being one of the judges for the 2016 Caputo Cup Pizza Championship. I served with Metro Pizza founder John Arena and Pete LaChappelle, publisher of Pizza Today Magazine (and also the organizer of the annual Pizza Expo in Las Vegas), as judges in the New York-Style category. Our category actually included any form of pizza baked in a pizzeria-style deck…Read More…

White pizza can take on many forms, whether with ricotta cheese and spinach, as we often find in the popular New York-style version, or simply any pizza without tomato sauce.  In this classic Neapolitan version, Peppe shows how he builds his bianca by first making, essentially, a Margherita without sauce, and then layering on the flavors after it comes out of the oven. In this instance, fresh prosciutto crudo (raw,…Read More…

Of all the controversies in the world, the one that makes the least sense to me is that of how to properly eat pizza. Not a week goes by without a tour guest asking my opinion on the subject, citing alleged faux pas by public figures like Donald Trump and Bill Deblasio. They clearly expect me to react like Jon Stewart, with complete disgust for any method requiring utensils other…Read More…

Note from Peter:  I’ve recommended interesting products here from time to time, but only rarely.  However, I get so many emails from folks lamenting a broken or cracked baking stone that I couldn’t resist posting this guest column from our long time friend, Bob Radcliffe (I remember when I dropped my 10 year old stone and had to fight off serious tears — it was a type of mourning after…Read More…

I often say that pizza is just dough with something on it. But, when you think about it, it can also be dough with something in it (which means, a nicely made grilled cheese sandwich is a kind of pizza too!). In this week’s segment, Peppe shows us how easy it is to use pizza dough to make a classic calzone filled with salumi, ricotta and mozzarella (with a dash…Read More…