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Truly Madly Pizza
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Truly Madly Pizza

One Incredibly Easy Crust, Countless Inspired Combinations & Other Tidbits to Make Pizza a Nightly Affair: A Cookbook

About the Book

Make pizza night every night with a basic dough recipe, unexpected topping combinations, and complementary side dishes.

No matter what the first day of a new week throws at you, no matter how looming the rest of the days before the weekend seem, a truly, madly delicious pizza promises something familiar, something reliable, something known. It's confirmation that all the heaviness of the world will be held at bay—if only for a little while—by a combination of bubbling mozzarella, sweet fennel sausage, and balsamic-glazed radicchio.

Beginning with the "Mother Crust" recipe, Lenzer argues that pizza dough is a tabula rasa for whatever healthy fresh ingredients you have on hand. To make pizza a nightly affair, she suggests preparing the dough on Sunday—in less than 30 minutes—freezing it, and simply transferring it to the fridge to thaw on the morning you plan to cook. Lenzer gives the timestrapped home cook countless combinations for a healthy, delicious (and quick!) weeknight meal.

Balancing lighter healthy alternatives like Summer Squash with Lemon Zest and Ricotta with indulgent options such as Spicy Shredded Pork with Sweet Onion Jam and Burrata, in addition to bonus recipes including "Salad thoughts," "Small bites," and even a few ideas about wine, this book covers all the bases. Lenzer's comforting voice adds a homey touch to her artisanal recipes and immaculately styled photos.
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Praise for Truly Madly Pizza

“We all know pizza is fun and delicious, but when you make it at home, it can also be quite healthy. Truly Madly Pizza inspires with dozens of dazzling, but doable, pizzas that you can feel really good about eating.” —Ellie Krieger, nutritionist, host of the Food Network's Healthy Appetite and author of Weeknight Wonders

“As a self-proclaimed pizza lover, I'm simply swooning over Truly Madly Pizza. I love how Suzanne gives you the rundown on how to make the perfect crust and all her amazing combinations. First on my list is Broccoli Rabe with Soppressata and an Egg, and then the Sweet Potato and Sage with Pecorino. I smell a pizza party coming my way...” —Paul Lowe, creator and editor-in-chief of Sweet Paul magazine and author of Eat and Make
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Excerpt

Truly Madly Pizza

CHORIZO WITH SPINACH AND CHICKPEAS

Ken and I took a trip to southern Spain once, and we fell hard for tapas. We’re both grazers, though I’m definitely worse than he is. Weekend lunches at our house are often a messy counter laden with various nubs of cheese, crackers or a hunk of bread, a dish of salted olive oil maybe, some thick slices of saucisson or thin sheets of Serrano ham. All of which is to say, the locally endorsed practice of snacking with a glass in hand in Seville and Granada suited us perfectly; we both enjoyed the rhythm of eating—a bit here, a bite there—as much as the vibrant, lush flavors. I think of this pizza as a dalliance with Spain, kind of like spilling a few of the tapas dishes onto a crust and discovering something wonderful.

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup sliced dry-cured chorizo sausage
1 cup canned chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 container (5 ounces) baby spinach
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
1 ball pizza dough (page 16), thawed if frozen
1/4 cup freshly shaved Manchego cheese

Preheat the oven to 550°F.

In a large skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of the oil over medium-high heat. Add the chorizo and reduce the heat to medium. Cook the chorizo for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until some of the fat from the sausage has rendered. Add the chickpeas, toss to coat them in the spicy oil, and cook until the chorizo begins to brown on the edges, another 3 minutes or so. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the chorizo and chickpeas to a bowl. Reserve the fat from the skillet in another small bowl.

In the same skillet, heat the remaining 1 tablespoon oil over high heat. When the oil is hot, add the spinach, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and cook, tossing frequently, until just wilted, about 2 minutes. Remove thes pinach from the heat and let sit until cool enough to handle. Squeeze the spinach to drain off any excess liquid.

Shape the pizza crust as directed in the master recipe. Brush the surface with the reserved chorizo fat, leaving about a 1-inch border all around. Sprinkle the chorizo and chickpeas evenly over the crust and then drop small tangles of spinach over the sausage and beans.

Transfer the pizza to the oven and bake until the crust is nicely browned and the chickpeas are beginning to toast, 6 to 10 minutes. To serve, top the pizza with the Manchego shavings and freshly ground pepper.

About the Author

Suzanne Lenzer
SUZANNE LENZER graduated from the Institute of Culinary Education following a career in advertising. A food writer and stylist, over the past four years she has worked closely with cookbook author and New York Times columnist Mark Bittman. A native of Los Angeles, she lives in New York City. More by Suzanne Lenzer
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About the Author

Mark Bittman

When Mark Bittman writes and talks about food, America listens. In his weekly New York Times food column, his monthly New York Times travel features, his bestselling cookbooks, and his award-winning public television series, Bittman grabs our attention–and keeps it.

 

Bittman’s bible of cooking, How to Cook Everything, has sold over a million copies. Dubbed “the new, hip Joy of Cooking” by the Washington Post and winner of both the Julia Child and the James Beard Awards (plus several others), it's a must-have book for every American Kitchen, the favorite of millions of American cooks. In 2005 Broadway Books published his eagerly awaited follow-up: The Best Recipes in the World.

 

His weekly cooking column, The Minimalist, is followed by more than two million readers, including home cooks and professionals, and has profoundly influenced American cooking since its inception. (Three award-winning cookbooks have resulted from his column: The Minimalist Cooks at Home; The Minimalist Cooks Dinner; and The Minimalist Entertains. These three will be published in an omnibus paperback edition in the spring of 2007, entitled Mark Bittman’s Quick and Easy Recipes from the New York Times.)

 

And when Bittman branches out, his fans follow: his recent New York Times piece on the best of Tuscan food was the paper’s travel section’s best-read article ever, reaching nearly three million readers.

 

In the late ’90s, Bittman formed a best-selling collaboration with the internationally celebrated chef, Jean-Georges Vongerichten. Their classic book, Jean-George: Cooking at Home with a Four-Star Chef, won a James Beard award and is widely considered to be among the most accessible chef’s cookbooks ever published. That was followed in 2000 with Simple to Spectacular, the groundbreaking cookbook that shows readers how to master a basic recipe then take it in almost limitless directions.

 

Bittman’s PBS series, Bittman Takes on America’s Chefs, was awarded the Best National TV Cooking Series of 2005 by the James Beard Foundation. In April ’07 his second series, The Best Recipes in the World, will premiere. In the fall of ’07 Wiley will publish the groundbreaking How to Cook Everything Vegetarian, and Bittman is currently completing the revision of How to Cook Everything, to be published in fall 2008, the tenth anniversary of the original.

 

A regular on NBC’s The Today Show and NPR’s All Things Considered, Bittman has been profiled in newspapers and magazines including Food & Wine, Real Simple, People, The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, The Boston Globe, The Dallas Morning News and more.

 

Mark Bittman is working on his first novel, and is a licensed pilot who continues to humbly cook dinner for friends and family several times a week.

More by Mark Bittman
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