Pizza Quest with Peter Reinhart

One woman’s quest to master the craft of pizza. Follow Norma as she shares her adventure and her accumulated knowledge.

  Note to readers: This is an excerpt from my book, American Pie: My Search for the Perfect Pizza (Ten Speed Press). This recipe is one of my most requested and I think it rivals any pesto recipe I’ve seen or tried anywhere. Let me know what you think when you try it. When I first discovered pesto about 35 years ago I thought the heavens had opened and revealed…Read More…

This week on PizzaQuest we introduce you to the Sweet Water Gypsies, two pizzaiolas from southern Utah. Look in the Instructionals section, posting on Thursday, for the video we made together featuring a wonderful arugula topped pizza with fresh mozzarella, grana padana cheese, bacon and crushed tomato sauce (the recipe for the sauce was posted last week). Also on Thursday, in our ongoing series of fundamental culinary building blocks, I’ll post a…Read More…

This week’s Instructional video comes from our weekend at The Fire Within Conference in Boulder, Colorado. When the conference ended we gathered some of the oven owners and filmed a number of demonstrations in the Forno Bravo ovens mounted on Fire Within mobile rigs. We’ll be sharing more of these with you during the coming weeks. This time around, meet the Sweet Water Gypsies, two serious pizzaiolas, Monica and Beth,…Read More…

Lately, I’ve been thinking about pizza as a form of self-expression. On a recent holiday shopping expedition, I found myself fascinated by what are called Fine Art Galleries in the mall. I’m sure you’ve seen them, places that sell the mass-produced work of a particular “artist” who seems to be capable of turning out thousands of paintings at an alarming rate, each new one eerily similar to the last. Well,…Read More…

Week Four is now in session, so here’s a preview of what’s coming during Week Five, beginning January 17th: –More from Pizzeria Mozza–this time a trip to LaBrea Bakery to see where and how the Mozza dough is made. You’ll love the big mixers and how this unique dough comes together. This is the third in our seven-part Pizzeria Mozza series. –Part Two of John Arena’s Guest Column on Pizza…Read More…

Now that we’ve posted two easy to make pizza dough recipes, let’s continue to build our repertoire of fundamental pizza components. During the next few months we’ll post not only these really basic recipes, the essential culinary tool box, so to speak, but also more elaborate recipes and finished dishes, as well as videos with techniques for mixing and shaping dough and such. But for now, let’s focus on a…Read More…

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about something called Third Places because, in these challenging times, it’s so hard to make real connections with real people. Our homes are being built closer together while our family schedules have caused us to live further apart. In our quest to become more efficient at work we now have even more work to do yet less time to do it in effectively. It seems…Read More…

Matt Molina – Pizzeria Mozza: In the previous video segment you met Nancy Silverton, the visionary behind Pizzeria Mozza, and in this segment you’ll meet her Executive Chef and Head Pizzaiolo, Matt Molina, the man who makes the magic happen every day at the oven. Matt is a great guy and has been working with Nancy since he was a young chef, cooking at her previous restaurant, Campanille (awarded Restaurant…Read More…

Pizzeria Mozza! How lucky am I to live and work near Pizzeria Mozza? Look at these pizzas!  And, let me tell you, they taste even better than they look! I have always been a fan of Mario Batali, one of the owners of Pizzeria Mozza.  I have watched Molto Mario with my son Owen (12) for years. In fact, Owen has a plan to try to get on the show. …Read More…