Pizza was first sold in this country by an Italian-American grocer in New York City, according to Ed Levine, author of “A Slice of Heaven.” Amazingly, however, before World War II, pizza was consumed in this country by a limited number of people.
“Pizza at this point was very much an ethnic, poor person’s food eaten by Italians in the urban enclaves in which they had settled,” writes Levine.
After the war, American soldiers who had been stationed in Italy came home with a craving for this satisfying food, and pizza spread across the country. Pizza ovens were invented. Pizza chains sprang up.
In 2018, the U.S. Department of Agriculture found that 13% of Americans eat pizza each day. “Children eat two times and teens eat four times more pizza today than they did 30 years ago,” the authors of the study noted.
I can believe that. When I was a child, pizza was an occasional treat; we ate it a few times a year. My nephew Michael practically lives on pizza.
Even if I don’t eat pizza as frequently as young Michael, I love to make it. Pizza recipes have appeared in two of my three cookbooks, and I have fun thinking up novel toppings.
I was consequently delighted to hear last fall that King Arthur was planning its own pizza tome. “The Book of Pizza,” co-authored by Martin Philip and David Tamarkin (with several helpers), is being published today by Simon Element. The book will stand me in good stead for years to come.
I will probably start with the basics, such as the book’s Weeknight White Dough.
The term “weeknight” may be misleading. This recipe makes a good crust for someone like me, who works at home and can start and stop the process as needed.
Cooks who come home from the office at 5:30 or 6 in the evening and begin working on their dough will want to snack heavily early on as even this relatively quick dough takes a couple of hours to make.
As the authors note frequently in the book, pizza is bread (with delicious toppings). Bread takes a while to make, but in my experience it rewards the effort expended.
The authors of “The Book of Pizza” list many styles of pizza with which I was familiar, including New York, Neapolitan and Chicago — but also New Haven, Roman, Detroit and even a style called “Grandma.”
King Arthur Baking prides itself on its accuracy and versatility, and this book doesn’t disappoint along those lines. The authors explain how each crust style works and then suggest a number of toppings.
Newcomers to crust-making, like me, will probably start simple and expand over time. Pizza cognoscenti will find plenty of challenges and explanations to help them up their game.
I’m good at thinking up toppings, but I would not have thought of some of the appealing combinations in this book, including a Broccoli and Cheese Pizza, and a Corn, Cheese and Chile Pizza based on Mexican street corn.
To augment the pizza offerings, the authors conclude with some salads and desserts so readers can construct a whole meal out of “The Book of Pizza.”
The most appealing feature of this book as far as I’m concerned is the enthusiasm the authors exhibit for their subject matter. They clearly love to bake and eat … and to bake and eat pizza in particular.
I own several King Arthur cookbooks. They are all helpful, but some of them tend to be so busy trying to think of every possible thing the reader might need to know that they forget that cooking is joyful. “The Book of Pizza” is full of joy.
Here is a recipe from the book to get you started on your own pizza-making journey. If you don’t own all the equipment the authors would like you to have — baking steel, stone or pizza peel — just do your best with what you have. I often bake pizza on a cookie sheet. Be careful not to burn your fingers.
All ovens are different. My own oven sets off all the smoke alarms in the house at 500 degrees, even when it is immaculately clean — well, almost immaculately clean. It is an old oven.
I plan to reduce the oven temperature when I bake this pizza. It may take a little longer and be less professional, but I’m sure it will be delicious.
Popeye Pizza
The authors note, “If your ricotta is at all wet, place it in a fine-mesh sieve set over a bowl and let drain for 15 to 30 minutes before using. The fresh basil leaves seem like they should be optional, but here they really aren’t. They add a vital freshness to the pie, not to mention some pretty greenery.”
Ingredients:
75 grams (1/3 cup) whole-milk ricotta
15 grams (2 cloves) garlic roasted with olive oil, mashed to a paste, plus more garlic cloves for garnish
1/2 teaspoon fine salt, plus more to taste
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
42 grams (1-1/2 ounces) fresh baby spinach (about 1-1/2 cups)
1/4 cup packed fresh basil leaves, chopped, plus small leaves for garnish
1 scallion, thinly sliced crosswise
8 grams (2 teaspoons) extra-virgin olive oil
all-purpose flour as needed, for dusting
1 ball (about 274 grams) basic pizza dough
semolina flour or cornmeal, for dusting
57 grams (2 ounces) low-moisture whole-milk mozzarella, shredded (1/2 cup)
43 grams (1-1/2 ounces) feta, crumbled (1/4 cup)
1 teaspoon garlic-infused oil, for finishing
Instructions:
Arrange racks in the lower and upper thirds of the oven. Place a baking steel or stone on the lower rack, and preheat the oven to 500 degrees for at least 1 hour.
In a small bowl, stir together the ricotta, mashed garlic, salt and pepper. In a medium bowl, combine the spinach, chopped basil and scallion. Drizzle with the olive oil and toss to coat.
Shape the pizza. Dust your work surface with flour and place the dough on it. Without distorting the round dough, flip it over so that both sides are coated with flour.
Using your fingertips, gently to depress the center of the dough, being careful not to touch the outer edge of the crust. This step is important. Leaving the circumference untouched at this stage will result in a beautiful bubbly outer crust.
Continue using your fingertips to press the center of the dough outward until you have an 8-inch circle. Again taking care not to touch the outermost edge of the crust, lift the pizza from the work surface and use your knuckles to stretch the dough gently into an 11-inch round.
If the dough is at all sticky, use more flour. Use two hands at once to gently move the dough in a circle, allowing gravity to do most of the work for you, rather than pulling on the dough.
If the dough resists stretching, return it to your floured work surface and let it rest for 5 to 10 minutes to allow the gluten to relax; then try again.
Lightly dust a peel or an overturned baking sheet with semolina or cornmeal and transfer the shaped dough to the peel. If the dough retracts when transferring it to the peel, gently re-form it. Shimmy the dough on the peel to ensure it’s not sticking; if it is, lift the edge of the crust and add more semolina.
Spread the ricotta mixture over the dough in an even layer, leaving a half-inch border. Top with the spinach mixture, piling it more heavily on the outer edge (but avoiding the crust), then distribute the mozzarella and feta over the spinach.
Bake: Use the peel to transfer the pizza onto the steel or stone; then bake for 3 to 4 minutes. Check the bottom of the crust: it should be spotted and charred in places, and the edge crust should have some color. If not, rotate the pizza and bake for another 1 to 2 minutes.
Makes 1 11-inch pizza.
Excerpted from ‘King Arthur Baking Company The Book of Pizza: Recipes for Every Pizza Maker’. Copyright © 2026 by King Arthur Baking Company. Reproduced by permission of Simon Element, an imprint of Simon & Schuster. All rights reserved.
Tinky Weisblat is an award-winning cookbook author and singer known as the Diva of Deliciousness. Visit her website, TinkyCooks.com.