Truly Madly Pizza

July 6, 2015
Lenzer's obsession withâand discovery ofâthe perfect pizza crust fuels her compelling case for making homemade pizza a weekly (or even daily) ritual. Early on she dispels the myth of pizza as junk foodâ"These are not topping-laden, cheese-smothered, thick-crusted affairs"âand she's unapologetically all about the gluten. She sings the praises of pizza as a "tabula rasa," a blank slate happy to be topped with the "bibs and bobs" floating around your refrigerator. Her lawless approach to pizza-making, and her savvy tips and tricks (consider smearing bacon fat on your crust in lieu of tomato sauce), bring a solid dose of whimsy to weeknight dinners. Take a really good crust and have fun repurposing leftovers. What could go wrong? For guidance, the book offers up Lenzer's favorite pizza combinations in chapters organized by primary ingredient, including caramelized fennel and pears with stilton; spicy shredded pork with sweet onion jam and burrata; and the unexpected: clams with creamy tomato sauce and basil, Ã la Nigel Slater. This approachable collection of inventive recipes will inspire readers to experiment with their own pizza combinations.

June 1, 2015
Cookbook authors who invite us into their lives by sharing family stories, good (or not-so-good) habits, and little food quirks are those whom we treasure and whose books we instinctively turn to. This is one. Food stylist Lenzer now has a collection to call her own, centered on pizza and what New York Times journalist Mark Bittman calls his favorite pizza crust recipe. Much prologue is devoted to the ordinaries of pizza: why the crust matters (and Lenzer's tasting history of doughs past and present) and equipment that's not so necessary, like stones and a food processor. That preamble begins our affair with Lenzer and our determination to get pizza right. Doing so then means a multiplicity of choices (about 100 sauces, spreads, and toppings in the fruit-vegetable, charcuterie-meat, and poultry-seafood categories)bacon and eggs with black pepper and chives; sardines, thyme, and fennel with breadcrumbs; ramps with poached egg and pecorino. Of course, the incidentalstaralli, sweet pea crostini with pecorino, sans egg Caesar saladare just as robustly explained as the book's main course. Finally, you'll be entranced by her occasional flights of writing fancy: As their scallion-like heads turned pearly white in the olive oil. Poetry on a pizza.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)