cover image Truly Madly Pizza: One Incredibly Easy Crust, Countless Inspired Combinations, and Other Tidbits to Make Pizza a Nightly Affair

Truly Madly Pizza: One Incredibly Easy Crust, Countless Inspired Combinations, and Other Tidbits to Make Pizza a Nightly Affair

Suzanne Lenzer. Rodale, $27.50 (240p), ISBN 978-1-62336-218-8

Lenzer's obsession with%E2%80%94and discovery of%E2%80%94the 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 food%E2%80%94"These are not topping-laden, cheese-smothered, thick-crusted affairs"%E2%80%94and 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, %C3%A0 la Nigel Slater. This approachable collection of inventive recipes will inspire readers to experiment with their own pizza combinations. (May)