Ingredient library
Reference entries for the components of pizza dough and toppings. Click into any entry for substitutes, history, and the recipes that use it.
Flour
- 00 flour Italian-milled soft wheat for high-temp Neapolitan dough.
- Bread flour King Arthur–type 12.7% protein workhorse for NY and Detroit doughs.
- High-gluten flour All Trumps / Sir Lancelot — 13.5–14.2% protein for slice-shop NY dough.
- All-purpose flour 10–12% protein; softer crumb and faster relaxation.
- Semolina Coarse durum-wheat flour; bench dust and Sicilian crumb.
Tomato
Cheese
- Fior di latte Cow-milk fresh mozzarella; the workhorse melt.
- Low-moisture mozzarella (LMM) Polly-O / Grande / Galbani block; the NY-slice default.
- Wisconsin brick cheese Mild, buttery; the only correct cheese for Detroit pizza.
- Mozzarella di bufala campana DOP Tangier, wetter, richer — for raised-bar Margherita.
- Parmigiano-Reggiano Aged hard cheese; finishing grate.
- Pecorino Romano Aged sheep-milk hard cheese; salty, sharp.
- Ricotta Soft fresh whey cheese; dolloped on white pies.
- Provolone Aged stretched-curd cheese; the second leg of slice-shop pizza cheese.
- Gorgonzola Italian blue cheese; dolce or piccante, used in small amounts.
Yeast
Fat
Salt
Leavener
Toppings — meat
- Cup-and-char pepperoni Ezzo / Margherita / Vermont — natural-casing pepperoni that curls.
- Fennel sausage Italian-American crumbled pork sausage with fennel seed.
- Mortadella Bologna PGI emulsified pork; draped raw on hot pies.
- Anchovy fillets Salt-cured fillets; the marinara and sfincione signature.
- Soppressata / spicy salami Coarse-ground cured salami; spicy soppressata for diavola.
Toppings — vegetable
- Fresh basil Tear and place under the cheese (Neapolitan) or over (NY).
- Pistachio (Sicilian) Sicilian Bronte DOP nuts; shaved or crushed as garnish.
- Garlic Fresh cloves, sliced or crushed; the marinara baseline.
- Calabrian chili Bright, fruity, medium-hot southern Italian chili in oil.
- Cremini mushrooms Sliced thin and dried briefly to drive off water.
- Spinach Wilted and squeezed dry; the deep-dish vegetarian default.
- Broccoli rabe (rapini) Bitter Italian green; blanched and squeezed before the bake.
- Yukon Gold potato Sliced paper-thin; the Roman patate al taglio classic.
- Onion Yellow or red, raw thin or cooked low; the sfincione anchor.
Garnish
- Dried oregano Sicilian or Greek oregano; crumbled on red pies.
- Fresh rosemary Fresh sprigs; bianca al taglio and patate.
- Hot honey Mike's Hot Honey or homemade chili-infused; drizzled off-heat.
- Toasted breadcrumb Sicilian sfincione topping; absorbs surface oil during the bake.
- Black pepper Coarse-ground; the cacio e pepe and Roman tonda finisher.