Artisan Pizza and Flatbread in Five Minutes a Day: The Homemade Bread Revolution Continues

by Jeff Hertzberg M.D., Zoë François, Mark Luinenburg (Photographer)

Overview

From the bestselling authors of the ground-breaking Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day comes a much-anticipated cookbook featuring their revolutionary approach to yeast dough in over 100 easy pizza and flatbread recipes—a perfect gift with all the toppings!

With nearly half a million copies of their books in print, Jeff Hertzberg and Zoë François have proven that people want to bake their own bread—as long as they can do it quickly and easily. When fans hailed their pizza and flatbread recipes as the fastest in their books, Jeff and Zoe got busy creating all new recipes. With a batch of their stored dough in the fridge and a pre-heated oven or backyard grill, you can give your family what they crave…

Home-made, mouth-watering pizzas, flatbreads, and sweet and savory tarts, prepared in minutes!

In Artisan Pizza and Flatbread in Five Minutes a Day, Jeff and Zoë show readers how to use their ingenious technique to make lightning-fast pizzas, flatbreads, and sweet and savory tarts from stored, no-knead dough. In addition to the classic flatbread doughs and pizza crusts, there are alternatives with whole grain, spelt, and gluten-free ingredients, and the authors include soups, salads, and spreads that turn flatbreads or pizza into a complete meal. In just five minutes a day of active preparation time, you can create favorites like Classic Margherita, Pita pockets, Chicago Deep Dish, White Clam Pizza, and Blush Apple Tart.

Artisan Pizza and Flatbread in Five Minutes a Day proves that making pizza has never been this fast or easy. So rise…to the occasion and get baking!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780312649944
Publisher:	St. Martin's Publishing Group
Publication date:	10/25/2011
Edition description:	First Edition
Pages:	320
Sales rank:	207,829
Product dimensions:	7.84(w) x 9.40(h) x 1.25(d)

About the Author

The authors met in their children's music class in 2003 and wrote the best-selling Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day, and Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day.

Jeff Hertzberg, M.D. grew up eating New York pizza and spent years trying to figure out how to make dough that was convenient enough to use for daily pizza, flatbreads, and loaves. But really, he just wanted to learn to throw pizza dough high into the air. He lives in Minneapolis with his wife and two daughters.

Zoë François is a pastry chef trained at the Culinary Institute of America, but she is a pizzaiola at heart. While writing Artisan Pizza and Flatbread in Five Minutes a Day she traveled far and wide to eat every pizza and flatbread she could find. In addition to tossing pizzas she creates desserts on her pastry blog zoebakes.com. She lives in Minneapolis with her husband and two sons.

The authors answer questions on pizza, flatbread, and all things bread at PizzaIn5.com.

Read an Excerpt

Artisan Pizza and Flatbread in Five Minutes a Day

1

PIZZA AND FLATBREAD ARE THE FASTEST BREADS WE MAKE: STORING THE DOUGH MAKES THE DIFFERENCE

By the time we finished our second bread cookbook, we came to a basic truth: our pizzas and flatbreads were the fastest and often the most beloved recipes in our repertoire. Why? Because unlike loaf breads, they require little or no rest time after shaping them. So if you have a batch of our stored dough in the fridge (where it's been developing richer flavor over its storage life), and you've preheated your oven, you can be as little as ten minutes away from piping hot pizza, or even less for fresh pita flatbread. For busy people, there is no quicker dinner—as always, active time is under five minutes a day, because you spread the preparation time for your premixed dough over many pizzas and flatbreads.

We've included soups, dips, and spreads that turn flatbreads or pizzas into a complete and speedy meal. Ingredients will include grains and toppings from around the world, as well as healthier alternatives where possible. So this book can become the basis for entire meals that are perfect for busy households.

New pizzerias are popping up all over the United States, and pizza remains the nation's number one purchased meal. Despite this, there aren't many pizzacookbooks on the market today. And most recipes rely on dough that yields just one precious pie—not an option for most busy people. We have a voracious appetite for pizza, and so do our readers (that's what they told us on our Web site). Making your own pizza is much easier than it looks, and the options for toppings and crust mean that there's a world of variety. As in all our books, the secret to baking it fresh every day is that the dough is on hand, in your refrigerator, all the time. Storing the dough makes all the difference. Since you only mix once, but bake up to eight pizzas or flatbreads over a couple of weeks, you divide the prep time over all the pizzas and flatbreads you make from the batch.

Whether you're an old hand at baking or a novice, our helpful tips will let you perfect your pies. We start with basics in Chapter 2 (Ingredients), Chapter 3 (Equipment), and Chapter 4 (Tips and Techniques). And then you can start baking exquisite pies with our Master Recipe (Chapter 5).

Photography copyright © 2012 by Mark Luinenburg

Editorial Reviews

If you liked Hertzberg and Francois' Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day, you're going to love their new Artisan Pizza and Flatbread in Five Minutes a Day. This follow-up to that word-of-mouth bestseller pampers us with more than 100 easy to make and bake pizza and flatbread recipes. To add to the feast, they offer tasty alternatives with whole grain, spelt, and gluten-free ingredients; and soups, salads, and spreads to fill out the meal. (P.S. Dr. Hertzberg and Mrs. Francois know what they're doing: Their bread books have sold more than half a million copies.)

The tips and techniques section alone makes this book invaluable to anyone attempting to make pizza at home. Every problem you might encounter is discussed in a friendly, you’re-not-stupid-for-asking-this-question! manner. Hertzberg and François start with the basics: “How brown should pizza cheese get?” or “How do you prevent a soggy pizza crust?” and move to the more scientific: “Why do you cut medium-soft cheese into chunks rather than grating or slicing it?” The recipe section is similarly orchestrated. The first recipe, for a classic Margherita pie, is painstakingly broken down into finely detailed directions, with pictures in case you get lost. You’ll actually enjoy reading the directions, as the authors provide reasons for every move: “Do not punch down the dough! With our method, you’re trying to retain as much gas in the dough as possible, and punching it down knocks out gas and will make your pizza and flatbreads dense.” It feels encouraging, not coddling, and soon you’ll be making the delicious recipes, like Turkish spiced lamb flatbread or goat cheese and onion pizzette. (Nov.)

Publishers Weekly

Praise for Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day and Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day

“Soon the bread will be making itself… The crusty, full-flavored loaf that results may be the world’s easiest yeast bread.” —The New York Times

“If man cannot live by bread alone, it may be because Jeff Hertzberg and Zoë François didn’t publish their book sooner… [They've] developed a method that makes any home into a mini artisan bake shop… Hertzberg and François’ practical, common-sense method… is, quite simply, genius.” —Robin Mathers Jenkins, Chicago Tribune

“… even people who’ve spent their lives avoiding the kitchen can whip up a loaf of bread in five minutes…” —The Today Show

“… a book that has eliminated that marathon of prep and angst… the aroma’s wonderful, and there’s a slightly sour tang… ooh, that’s dynamite!  This is fabulous…” —Lynne Rossetto Kasper, on The Splendid Table radio show, 12/15/2007

“… whenever we need bread, I just dip into the container, pull out some dough, let it rest a bit and then bake a loaf, rolls, or pizza.  This method is amazingly simple—and creates authentic European-style fresh bread… The cost?  about 40 cents for a one-pound loaf!” —Woman’s Day Magazine

From the Publisher