3 of the Best Pizza Cookbooks for the Pizza Connoisseur
Pizza is such a popular comfort food that you can find almost anywhere you go. But why go out and buy it when you can make it in the comfort of your own home!
You’ll find that once you start making pizza, it’s hard to go back to ordering it. So, how do you start? For many of us, starting the learning process consisted of taking advantage of any and all information out there! This, of course, included online videos, pizza making blogs, and our absolute favorite: cookbooks. Our team has always valued and been a huge fan of these resources. After all, reputable copies are written by experts like pizza champion Tony Gemingnani (more on him later!).
In this guide, we’ll cover the top 3 pizza cookbooks for the pizza connoisseur. If they’ve helped us in our pizza endeavors, we guarantee they’ll help you.
Let’s begin with one of our all-time favorites: The Pizza Bible. This hardcopy can be purchased for a little under 20 bucks. We highly recommend making the investment because Tony Gemingnani wrote it with everyone in mind! He taught us the secrets of making fluffy Sicilian pan pies to spot on Neapolitan Margheritas.
If you don’t know who Tony Gemignani is, we highly recommend you do a little research and watch videos of him. He’s an all-time World Pizza Champion. Along with looking him up online, check out his guide, The Pizza Bible. It covers nine different styles of making pizza, some of them being:
- – Neapolitan
- – Roman
- – Chicago
- – Californian
- – And more!
His pizza bible is for those that don’t just want to commit to one type of pie style. He offers you a master class in delicious pizzeria-style pie making. I truly enjoyed the 75+ recipes and, to this day, reference this book when I’m in search of something new!
This is also a great pizza cookbook for beginners. With The Pizza Bible, you’ll learn the ins and outs of making dough, adding toppings, baking your pie to perfection, and more! All the tips, tricks, and advice needed to make pizza like a pro is found in this all-encompassing book.
This is another one of our all-time favorites. Mastering Pizza is a great read because it offers readers an easy way to make savory pies regardless of the oven or equipment that you have.
If you don’t own a pizza oven, don’t worry. This cookbook helps anyone get started! Marc Vetri focuses on a variety of base doughs that cooks can achieve through their home oven. He details different hydration levels which will allow you to achieve delicious tasting pizza through your standard home oven.
If you find that you want to take your pie making to the next level, we do recommend working your way up to a professional pizza oven. Until then, this guide is truly a game-changer for those starting out with the dough making process.
Award-winning chef Marc Vetri offers different base dough recipes and techniques, ensuring that your pie turns out perfect every time. He’s spent years trying out different recipes in Italy and then perfecting these recipes in America. We really love that he makes pizza making accessible to everyone. Even now, as experienced chefs, our team learns something new each time we pick up his book.
Last but not least is James Beard’s, The Elements of Pizza. For those that don’t know, Ken Forkish is the James Beard and IACP Award-Winning author. He’s truly one of the most trusted baking authorities and has proven this time after time.
Marc Vetri even wrote the following about him:
“If there were ever to be a bible for all things pizza–and I mean all things–Ken Forkish has just written it.”
A fan of Vetri ourselves, we knew we needed to check out Ken Forkish’s book, and boy are we glad we did! The Elements of Pizza breaks down the pie-making process all the way from step 1 (choosing the right dough recipe) to the final steps (topping your pie with the right cheese and ingredients). He shares with readers more than a dozen dough recipes and even includes gluten-free options.
A large reason why we love this guide is that his instructions are so clear and offer images all throughout. It’s a great read for beginners and experienced chefs alike.
Final Thoughts
That brings us to the end of this guide. Our team is a huge fan of all 3 of these pizza recipe books and authors. We recommend them with confidence. Not only are they written by reputable pizza chefs, but even as professionals, we learn something knew each time we pick them up. Whether you’re just starting out or are an experienced chef, we know you’ll benefit from all of these great reads.
