James McNair's New Pizza

On a recent visit to my daughter's, she showed me her new favorite cookbook, knowing that I would love it...James McNair's New Pizza: Foolproof Techniques and Fabulous Recipes. The title says it all. And after flipping through it, I just had to borrow it and try it out myself.

The pizza recipes are beautifully photographed and mouth-wateringly delicious sounding. So good, that I had to try this Caremelized Onion & Sausage Recipe within days and invite them over to test my skills with pizza making.

And, since the little boys only like "plain" pizza, we did a Marinara with some cheese too.

The pizzas were delicious, and without question, the best crust ever - I opted for the California Style Crust which was easy to prepare. And that takes me to the second reason to get the book....excellent step by step instructions for making the dough with options for using a stand mixer (my choice), bread machine (Jo's choice) or kneading by hand (for the purists out there) and the sauces. There is also a page of variations of doughs to whip up or alternative crusts you can try ...from frozen store bought pizza dough, to English muffins, naan bread and more. No more excuses to keep you from making your own pizzas.

I love how the book is organized too. It starts with the basics every pizza maker needs to know from what equipment you should get and why. Chef McNair explains many things we...at least I, never thought about, like the difference between stretching by hand or using a rolling pin to form your pizzas.

And then there are chapters dedicated to the pizzas themselves...classics (like pepperoni, clam, four seasons...), contemporary (like wild mushrooms, Caribbean Jerk Shrimp with Tropical Salsa, smoked salmon & brie...), stuffed pizzas (like calzones, deep dish Chicago, pulled pork piadianas...), sweet pizzas and ...my favorite section....the basics like the seasoned tomato pulp I used for the Marinara Pizza, simple recipes for roasted tomatoes, garlic, sweet peppers or chilis.

So, I know I'll be heading out to buy my own copy and since pizza making is simple, easy and economical, it probably fits into your 2010 resolutions too. Did I mention that there are healthy choices from dough (whole wheat, wheat germ) to toppings?