The Pizza Gourmet: Simple Recipes for Spectacular Pizza

Many interesting, unique and tasty combinations throughout the book. It is definitely not for those who feel pizza MUST have tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese and pepperoni. The recipes I've used, I return to again and again. Many have also been a jumping off point for my own creations/experimentations. Several different crust recipes, good basic starter sauce recipes and pizza that run the gamut from simple to sublime. If I could take only 5 cookbooks with me as the house was in flames, this would definitely be one of the 5.

I have owned this cookbook for over ten years now and use it often. It has the most amazing recipes for pizza. At the beginning of the book are recipes for different types of dough, followed by various sauces. The actual pizza recipes are divided roughly by geographic region. The variety is fantastic. Recipes use beef, chicken, pork, seafood, tofu, beans, or just vegetables. Fresh herbs are often included in the ingredients, as well as a wide variety of cheeses. The author includes a glossary of ingredients in case you come across one that you are unfamiliar with. If you are looking for an unusual and impressive pizza recipe, then you will find it in this cookbook. I highly recommend it.

Shea has taken the concept of pizza a few steps farther than any other cookbook I've seen. His bean-topped pizzas are incredibly tasty and hearty - definitely not for the faint-hearted! Easy to use and very varied styles.

I am looking to expand the basic menu items at our restaurant and found this book to be very very helpful. I reviewed quite a few other books at the library and none really had what I was looking for. This book has proven to be easy to use whether you're cooking for yourself, a family of five, or up to as many as 400 people a day. It offers a variety of ways to serve the same dish, yet appear different, while still being able to give it your own personal touch, whether you are trying to work with a picky eater child or that impossible to please customer. Bon Appetite!