The Pantry: what a pizza is made of
Before the recipes, the pantry. Every style in the cookbook below draws on the same four shelves — what changes is the proportions and the pan.
Dough
Flour, water, yeast, salt. Thin in Naples, tall in Sicily and Detroit, unrisen in St. Louis — the shelf that names the style.
Sauce
Tomato leads, but oil, cream and barbecue sauces all hold positions. Where the sauce sits — under, over or striped — matters as much as what it is.
Cheese
Low-moisture mozzarella for the melt; provolone, cheddar, gorgonzola and brick cheese where tradition calls for them.
Toppings
Pepperoni and sausage for the American table, prosciutto and mushrooms for the Italian one. Herbs finish; restraint wins.
Composition lines below describe what typically goes into each style — they are reference cards, not recipes to cook by.
The Cookbook: twenty styles
Entries open on click. Compiled and edited by Gustavo Salazar Jr.
01 Margherita ▸
The Naples flagship and the entry every other style is measured against: a thin, blistered crust carrying tomato, mozzarella and basil in the colors of the Italian flag.
- thin dough
- tomato
- fresh mozzarella
- basil
- olive oil
02 Neapolitan ▸
The protected original: soft, hydrated dough, a short topping list, and roughly ninety seconds in a very hot oven. The char pattern is its signature.
- high-hydration dough
- crushed tomato
- fior di latte
- olive oil
- salt
03 Marinara ▸
The oldest written combination — and proudly cheese-free: bright tomato, slivered garlic and oregano over a crisp base.
- thin dough
- tomato
- sliced garlic
- oregano
- olive oil
04 Classic Italian ▸
The everyday Italian entry: a slender crust and no more than one or two toppings. The point is balance, not abundance.
- thin crust
- tomato or oil base
- mozzarella
- one or two toppings
05 Roman ▸
Rome's cracker-crisp answer, often sold by weight from long trays and cut with scissors — thin, oily, addictive texture.
- oiled thin crust
- tomato
- mozzarella
- anchovies or oregano
06 Sicilian ▸
The island's tall square pie: airy dough in a pan, sauce laid over the cheese, breadcrumbs scattered for crunch.
- tall dough
- tomato
- cheese
- onions
- breadcrumbs
07 New York Style ▸
The slice that taught America to fold: wide, thin, flexible, with a sauce-to-cheese ratio measured in decades of practice.
- high-gluten dough
- tomato sauce
- low-moisture mozzarella
- oregano
08 Chicago Deep Dish ▸
The pie with walls: buttery crust in a deep pan, cheese under chunky sauce — reversed so the long bake cannot scorch the top.
- buttery tall crust
- mozzarella
- chunky tomato sauce
- sausage
09 Chicago Thin (Tavern) ▸
The tavern cut: cracker-thin, sauced edge to edge and scissored into squares — Chicago's everyday crisp alternative.
- cracker crust
- tomato sauce
- mozzarella
- fennel sausage
10 California Style ▸
The market basket pie: a light crust dressed with the week's freshest produce, cheese often crumbled on after the bake.
- light crust
- olive oil or light sauce
- fresh cheeses
- seasonal vegetables
11 Texas Style ▸
The pitmaster's pie: cornmeal in the crust, smoke on the brisket, cheddar in the blend and jalapeños for the finish.
- cornmeal crust
- barbecue sauce
- smoked brisket
- cheddar
- jalapeños
12 Detroit Style ▸
The Motor City rectangle: airy dough in steel pans, cheese pressed to a caramelized edge, sauce striped on top.
- rectangular dough
- brick cheese
- tomato stripes
- cupped pepperoni
13 St. Louis Style ▸
The yeastless maverick: cracker base, silky Provel, oregano-heavy sauce and a scissor cut — a style found almost nowhere else.
- unleavened crust
- Provel cheese
- oregano tomato sauce
- square cuts
14 Pepperoni ▸
America's best-selling order, and proudly simple: a cheese pie finished with pepperoni that curls into sauce-holding cups.
- hand-tossed dough
- tomato sauce
- mozzarella
- pepperoni
15 Meat Lovers ▸
The full pantry of meats — pepperoni, sausage, bacon, ham — stacked on a crust built to carry them.
- sturdy dough
- tomato sauce
- mozzarella
- four meats
16 BBQ Chicken ▸
Tomato benched, barbecue sauce in: smoked gouda, grilled chicken and raw red onion for the crunch.
- crust
- barbecue sauce
- grilled chicken
- gouda
- red onion
17 Buffalo Chicken ▸
Game-day flavors baked into a pie: buffalo-hot chicken cooled by ranch or blue cheese over the top.
- crust
- buffalo sauce
- chicken
- mozzarella
- ranch or blue cheese
18 Hawaiian ▸
Ham meets pineapple — a Canadian invention with an Italian name and an endless argument attached.
- crust
- tomato sauce
- mozzarella
- ham
- pineapple
19 Four Cheese ▸
The tomato-free study: four cheeses — stretch, bite, salt and melt — sharing one crust.
- crust
- mozzarella
- gorgonzola
- parmesan
- fontina
20 Veggie Garden ▸
The garden's reply: peppers, mushrooms, onion, cherry tomatoes and olives over a cheese base — changeable with the seasons.
- crust
- tomato or pesto
- mozzarella
- peppers
- mushrooms
- olives
Printable recipe cards (PDF)
The cookbook is also available as a set of printable recipe cards — a three-page PDF in US Letter format with all twenty entries and their compositions. Click to download; no e-mail address is asked and nothing is collected.
The cards may be printed for personal, non-commercial use. Pizza Recipe Italy is an independent, informational publication — it sells nothing and is not affiliated with any restaurant, chain or brand.