The Perfect Pizza

Learn to make exceptional sourdough pizza at home with this groundbreaking, comprehensive guide from the New York Times bestselling and James Beard Award–winning author of The Perfect Loaf.

Long before he became one of the go-to experts on sourdough baking, Maurizio Leo grew up in his family’s pizzeria, watching his dad launch and cook countless pizzas. In The Perfect Pizza, he returns to his roots, tackling pizza with his signature in-depth, technique-driven approach. You can make unbelievable homemade pizza using your sourdough starter, and Maurizio is here to show you how.

The key to making incredible pizza at home lies in making a great dough. Rather than relying on a few master dough recipes like most pizza books, The Perfect Pizza provides unique recipes for over 40 specialty pizza styles, meticulously tested to achieve the best flavor and texture. With helpful QR codes and step-by-step process photos, Maurizio dives into the technique behind creating and maintaining a sourdough starter, mixing dough, managing dough fermentation, and the handling skills needed for balling, stretching, and finally launching the pizza into the oven (whether it’s a regular home oven, an Ooni, or a specialty pizza oven).

Once you get the hang of the process, you can try out a wide range of recipes and pizza styles, starting with familiar classics before exploring doughs that incorporate whole grains and freshly-milled flour, focaccias, and little-known authentic, regional Italian specialties. The expertly tested recipes include:

• Essentials: My Go-To Pizza Dough; Same-Day Pizza Dough; A Pizza and a Loaf
• American and Italian Styles: New York Style; Tavern Style; Sicilian Style; Pizza al Taglio; Pizza Bianca; Pizza Tonda Romana
• Exploring Flours and Grains: Sixty-Forty Whole Grain Pizza Dough; Toasted Flour Pizza Dough; A Touch of Rye Pizza Dough
• Focaccia: A Simple Focaccia; Crispy High-Hydration Focaccia; 100% Whole Grain Focaccia; Focaccia with Chocolate-Hazelnut Spread

With the delectable recipes and comprehensive techniques in The Perfect Pizza, you’re on your way to crafting a homemade pizza that perfectly suits your taste.Maurizio Leo is the creator of the sourdough baking website The Perfect Loaf. His cookbook, The Perfect Loaf — The Craft and Science of Sourdough Breads, Sweets, and More, is a James Beard Award-winner and a New York Times bestseller. He lives in Albuquerque, NM, with his wife and two sons, where he's been baking sourdough for over a decade.