Perfect Pan Pizza

February 18, 2019
In this creative book, baker and writer Reinhart teaches readers how to make popular renditions of pan pizza, from Detroit square pizza to focaccia. His techniques—dimpling the dough as opposed to rolling it, making a starter for sourdough—are methodical and easy to follow. The book lists over 30 different types of pan pizzas, some of which incorporate traditional ingredients, such as Italian sausage pizza with garlic, a focaccia bianca with herb oil, and a classic pepperoni. There are also some fun pizzas inspired by sandwiches (“A sandwich fits my fundamental definition of pizza,” he writes, which is “dough with something in it or on it”), such as Philly-style roast pork pizza with broccoli rabe, banh mi pizza, and Reuben pizza. Other intriguing ideas include veggie “pepperoni” pizza (he substitutes seasoned broccoli stalks for pepperoni) and a sweet grape and anise schiacciata (a Tuscan version of focaccia). This is a great guide for home cooks who want to create pizzas that have more bite and chew to them than thin crust pizzas.