There are many great books about pizza, from cookbooks specializing in doughs to recipes for different sauces to fun illustrated pizza tours of Italy. We know there are great podcasts about pizza and Facebook groups about pizza, but books about pizza are still cool, too.
We love to read about food and culture and learn some great new ways to make my favorite food, pizza. Here is a list of our favorite books about pizza.
Table of Contents
The Absolute Best Homemade Pizza Books
With all the wonderful books out there on pizza and how to make it better at home, we have no need to write our own. Yet. Maybe in a few years when we retire and enjoy all our free time slinging pies in our backyard DIY brick pizza oven. We can dream, right? Anyways, any or all of these would make excellent pizza gifts as well.
Real Pizza: Secrets of the Neapolitan Tradition
by Enzo De Angelis, Antonio Sorrentino – 2017
Do you love Neapolitan pizza? The simplicity and tradition of Neapolitan pizza are the focus of this book. The book showcases the skills, tricks, and techniques of eleven famous Neapolitan pizza makers.
The book has 40 different recipes for amazing pizzas like the unique Pizza Pear with smoked mozzarella and gorgonzola cheese combined with thinly sliced sweet pear, and salty pork. The book is more than just tips and recipes.
The authors take you to Napoli and talk with chefs and families. There are anecdotes and stories about the native Italian sub-culture. It’s a wonderful read!
Bianco: Pizza, Pasta, and Other Food I Like
by Chris Bianco – 2017
Chris Bianco is one of the most famous pizzaiolos in the U.S. His amazing pizzeria Bianco is located in Phoenix. But if you are far from Phoenix, you can still try his recipes. This book has pizza recipes and other Italian specialties.
Chris has his own line of canned tomatoes, and there is a lot of sauce talk in the book. So if you are looking to perfect your sauce, check it out.
Pizzapedia: An Illustrated Guide to Everyone’s Favorite Food Hardcover
by Dan Bransfield – 2018
Learn more about the history of the humble pizza pie. This unique illustrated guide to everything pizza is a great coffee table book or even a great gift for pizza lovers.
I guarantee that you will learn something new. The artistic take on the history of all things pizza is worth a look.
The United States of Pizza: America’s Favorite Pizzas, From Thin Crust to Deep Dish, Sourdough to Gluten-Free
by Craig Priebe, Dianne Jacob – 2015
The author and chef take you on a tour of American pizzerias. This is one of the great books about pizza. The author explores the different regional takes on pizza from every corner of the great United States of America, including St. Louis and New Haven apizza in Connecticut. He even addresses gluten-free pizza dough.
In the U.S. traditional food is often chucked out the window in favor of regional specialties and the creative individuality that makes American great. He shares his finds, and a few interesting ones are Seattle’s white bean puree, asparagus, and Parmesan pizza. And the New Orleans inspired Louisiana pie made with crawfish étouffé. God bless American ingenuity.
Pizza: History, Recipes, Stories, People, Places, Love
by Thom and James Elliot – 2020
This book is different from the other books about pizza as it takes the reader on an international journey to examine the cult of pizza all over the world. The book looks at everything pizza.
The authors, The Pizza Pilgrims, Thom, and James Elliot, travel around the world looking at everything pizza. There are some recipes, pizza history, wild stories, and maps of global pizza cities. If you love to travel and try pizza wherever you go, check out this book.
Flour Water Salt Yeast: The Fundamentals of Artisan Bread and Pizza
by Ken Forkish – 2012
This book is an in depth look, by the well-known baker Ken Forkish from Portland, at how to make pizza dough and just bread in general. He gets down to the nuts and bolts of everything dough.
He takes a well-educated yet straightforward look at how to make dough. Whether you are an experienced baker or just getting started on your homemade dough journey, this is a great guide to have. He might be fundamentally against using a food processor for pizza dough, though.
The Pizza Bible: The World’s Favorite Pizza Styles, from Neapolitan, Deep-Dish, Wood-Fired, Sicilian, Calzones and Focaccia to New York, New Haven, Detroit, and More
by Tony Gemignani – 2014
There is a reason the title is The Pizza Bible. It has all the gospel and the truth about pizza making. This book is considered the quintessential of all the books about pizza.
The author, the famous pizzaiolo, shares all of his knowledge about pizza. He covers everything you need to know to make the best pizza. Whether you like Chicago deep dish, California-style pizza, infamous Detroit style pizza, or the controversial St. Louis pizza, he has all the info to help you make your favorite style of pizza. He even writes about one of our personal favorites, calzones!
Homemade Pizza Cookbook: The Best Recipes and Secrets to Master the Art of Italian Pizza Making
by Owen Conti – 2021
This step-by-step guide provides detailed instruction to learn all of the key components of how to make healthy homemade pizza.
Not only does the author cover sauces, dough, toppings combos, but he also explains the difference between ovens and how to make the best pizza for your type of oven.
Authentic Italian Pizza: How to Make a Genuine Homemade Italian Pizza, Focaccia, and Sheet Pan Pizza
by Tommaso Sorrentino – 2020
Okay, numbers 9 and 10 on the list are technically two different books about pizza by the same author. The first is an overview of how to make the different styles of pizza. The author has over 35 years of experience as a chef and pizzaiolo, but he is also a bit scientist.
He covers flavor profiles and the science and chemistry of making the best pizza. He explains how to use both poolish and biga. He describes the chemistry behind fermentation and how to use sourdough properly. Also looks into focaccia. He explains which yeast is best for digestion. He has written an expert guide on everything dough.
Authentic Italian Pizza – The Cookbook: 43 step-by-step pizza dough recipes for homemade pizza from scratch! + 90 gourmet toppings for every craving
by Tommaso Sorrentino – 2020
His first book is pizza theory, chemistry, and science. His second book covers the different types of yeast and fermentation times to make the right flavor, which flavors complement which toppings, and how to get a thin, crispy or tasty, chewy dough.
The book has colorful pictures and so much information. Both books complement the information in the other. You can’t just read one, get both books and learn from this mad scientist pizza guru.
These are ten books about pizza that are excellent resources for recipes, sauces, toppings, and some fun history. They are all written by knowledgeable chefs and pizzaiolos that really know their stuff.
Have you read any of these? Did I miss any of your favorites?
