good pizza is magic. Something indescribably wonderful happens when you combine crust, tomato, and cheese and bake them to melted perfection. In this highly anticipated cookbook, Ken Forkish--owner of the beloved restaurant Ken's Artisan Pizza in Portland, Oregon; the James Beard and IACP Award-winning author of Flour Water Salt Yeast; and one of the most trusted baking authorities in the country--proves that amazing pizza is within reach of any home cook. The Elements of Pizza breaks down each step of the pizza-making process, from choosing a dough to shaping your pie to selecting cheeses and toppings that will work for your home kitchen setup. Forkish offers more than a dozen different dough recipes--same-day Saturday doughs that you can make in the morning to bake pizza that night, levain doughs made from a naturally fermented yeast starter, and even gluten-free dough--each of which results in the best, most texturally sublime crust you've ever made at home. His clear, expert instructions will have you shaping pies and loading a pizza peel with the confidence of a professional pizzaiolo. And his innovative, seasonal topping ideas will surprise and delight any pizza lover--and inspire you to create your own signature pies, just the way you like them.