The Ultimate Pizza : The World's Favorite Pizza Recipes--from Deep Dish to Dessert

by Pasquale Bruno Jr.

Filled with more 90 authentic recipes from thin crust to deep dish, stuffed to grilled, The Ultimate Pizza presents the world's favorites. First travel to Italy for classics such as Pizza Margherita. Then move on to the Mediterranean for Pizza Athenia (spinach, feta, tomatoes, olives). On and on, you'll be amazed by the varieties and tastes presented in this amazing book!

Genres: Cookbooks

160 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1995

About the author

Pasquale N. Bruno Jr., (Jan. 8, 1933-Oct. 30, 2012). Pat served in the Air Force as a 1st Lieutenant, four years as a member of a flight crew, stationed in Europe and North Africa. He graduated from St. Michaels College in Vermont with a Bachelors degree. He began his career working for Sears, eventually moving to Chicago in 1967, where he became Corporate National Manager of Sears Home Appliances. It is also where he met his wife of 33 years, Gale Johnson.

Leaving Sears after 14 years, in 1978 he opened a chain of stores “Cook’s Mart” which sold gourmet cookware and houseware items. Pat invented the first pizza stone for home use in the early 1970s for which he held the original patent. He also invented about 25 different kitchenware tools, some of which still hold the coveted Cooks Illustrated “Highly Recommended” rating. He authored five books on pizza and pasta making. He was the owner of a cooking school “Cucina Paradiso” in Chicago, where worked with celebrity chefs Jacques Pepin, Diana Kennedy, among others.

Reviews

[Susan Atherly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a well organized, practical guide to making pizza at home.

It contains several dough recipes, including unleavened, whole wheat, beer and a sweet pizza dough. There are detailed information on making and storing the dough as well as troubleshooting common problems.

He also covers different cheeses that can be used and what they add flavour wise. I personally never thought of blue cheese on a pizza.

The recipes are clearly laid out and the majority of them have short, commonly available ingredients lists. Making dough can be intimidating but nothing says you can't use premade. If you skip making dough, all but a few recipes are quick and easy. Many of the recipes are vegetarian and could be made vegan with vegan cheeses.

What this book does lack is a gluten free dough option. There are no vegan options that don't require a cheese substitute. There are no Asian inspired recipes, which is a shame. There are also some very creative pizzas from South American, the African continent, and Australia and New Zealand that aren't represented. Maybe he needs a Volume Two!

Beyond those quibbles, this book will definitely get you started with making your own pizzas. Where go from there is up to you.

[Liquidlasagna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rating 7 - very good

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There used to be a great website that had pizza book ratings, and it disappeared over a decade ago
but it had some of the best ratings I've seen, and quite a few books that were highly rated would disappear after they 'tested out the recipes' or compared it to other books

I don't think I've disagreed with their ratings at all, but they chopped about 100 books off their list in later years as just average, like five out of ten, and a couple of books they really liked, were taken down too.

I guess as they did more recipes and comparisons to pizza books 2o or 25 years later and would scrub more off the list, as the recipes got better, or you see more flaws in some the books
I found the site because I was curious when the very first pizza books came out, and just how close to impossible it was to find someone with a collection of 'most every book under the sun' and when it came out...

1980 is when the first pizza book came out

and bruno was one of the first four pizza books out back in 1983

1983 - Bruno - The Great Chicago-Style Pizza Cookbook 7/10
1995 - Bruno - The Ultimate Pizza 7/10

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Here is how Bruno's book rates to the other books from 1995


MacKenzie, Shea. The Pizza Gourmet. New York: Shea Publishing Group, 1995. (Paperback) - 4 stars [excellent] 8/10

Oshinsky, Carl. What Your Mother Never Taught You The Pizza Gourmet Will!. Westland MI: The Pizza Gourmet, Inc., 1995. (Hardcover) - 4 stars [excellent] 8/10

Brody, Lora. Pizza, Focaccia, Filled And Flat Breads From Your Bread Machine. New York: William Morrow and Company, Inc., 1995. (Hardcover) - 3.5 stars [very good] 7/10

***Bruno, Jr., Pasquale. The Ultimate Pizza. Chicago: Contemporary Books, 1995. (Paperback) - 3.5 stars [very good] 7/10

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books taken off the list in later years

[Gooch, Annette. Pizza Primer. Santa Rosa CA: Cole Group, 1995. (Paperback) - formerly 4 stars then removed] [excellent to average] - merely 2.5 stars - 8/10 to a downgrade of 5/10

[Ferrigno, Ursula. Pizza, Pasta and Polenta. London: Merehurst Ltd., 1995. (Hardcover) - formerly 3.5 stars then removed] [very good to average] - merely 2.5 stars - 5/10

[Lee, Wendy. Step-By-Step Pizzas. New York: Shooting Star Press, 1995. (Hardcover) - formerly 3.5 stars then removed] [very good to average] - merely 2.5 stars - 5/10

[Buck-Murray, Marian. Kids Make Pizza. Pownal VT: Prima Publishing, 1995. (Paperback) - formerly 3 stars then removed] [good to average] - merely 2.5 stars - 5/10

[LaBarge, Randy R. The Joy Of Pizza. Richland WA: Badger Mountain Press, 1995. (Paperback) - formerly 3 stars then removed] [good to average] - merely 2.5 stars - 5/10

[Ehlert, Friedrich et al. Pasta, Pizza, and Rice. London: Grange Books, 1995. (Hardcover) - merely 2.5 stars - average - removed] - merely 2.5 stars - 5/10

[Street, Myra. Pizza Cookbook. Edisson NJ: Chartwell Books, 1995. (Hardcover) - merely 2.5 stars - average - removed] - merely 2.5 stars - 5/10