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Mamma mia, let’s make dough

The toppings

The calculator weighs the dough and the recipe pages weigh what goes on it — these pages are about the toppings themselves: what to buy, how to handle it, when it goes on, and how much. Every dose is read from the same registry as the classics, so the numbers always agree.

Mozzarella · on the margherita, diavola, quattro formaggi, prosciutto e funghi, pepperoni, capricciosa, quattro stagioni, boscaiola, bufalina, napoli, grandma, hawaiian, ortolana, pinsa mortadella e stracciatella, tonda romana, chicago tavern

Fresh fior di latte or the low-moisture block? Which mozzarella goes on which pizza, how to stop a watery bake, and per-pizza doses from the classic recipes.

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Basil · on the margherita, bufalina, grandma, ortolana, tonda romana

When basil goes on a pizza — before or after the bake — why home ovens burn it, how many leaves the margherita counts, and how to keep a bunch alive all week.

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Pepperoni · on the pepperoni

Why natural-casing pepperoni cups and chars while supermarket slices lie flat, where it goes in the layering order, and the dose the classic pie is weighed for.

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Mushrooms · on the prosciutto e funghi, capricciosa, quattro stagioni, boscaiola

Raw or sautéed first? Which mushrooms to buy for pizza, why thin slicing decides everything, and the per-pizza doses four classic recipes are weighed for.

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Garlic · on the marinara, grandma

How garlic goes on pizza without scorching: paper-thin slices on the marinara, the clove math, and when garlic oil is the smarter route to the same place.

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Italian sausage · on the boscaiola, salsiccia e friarielli, chicago tavern

Italian sausage goes on pizza raw: why hazelnut-size nuggets cook through in the bake, which sausage to buy, and the dose the boscaiola recipe is weighed for.

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Parmigiano · on the quattro formaggi, grandma

Parmigiano Reggiano on pizza: why a little goes on before the bake on the quattro formaggi, real wedge versus the shaker, and the weighed per-pizza dose.

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Brick cheese · on the detroit red-top

What brick cheese is, why Detroit pizza insists on it for the frico edge, the substitute blend that gets close, and the dose the red top is weighed for.

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Gorgonzola & fontina · on the quattro formaggi

The quattro formaggi's two character cheeses, weighed: gorgonzola in small nuggets, fontina diced to melt in time — which to buy, and what each one is for.

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Olives · on the capricciosa, quattro stagioni

Which olives belong on a pizza and why they're counted, not weighed: the pitted rule the recipes insist on, plus the doses the capricciosa and stagioni take.

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Artichokes · on the capricciosa, quattro stagioni

Artichokes on pizza come from a jar, and that's correct: oil-packed hearts, drained well and quartered — what to buy and the counted doses the classics take.

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Cooked ham · on the prosciutto e funghi, capricciosa, quattro stagioni, hawaiian

Prosciutto cotto is the ham that belongs in the oven — crudo isn't. What to buy at the deli counter, why the recipes tear it, and the weighed per-pizza doses.

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Anchovies & capers · on the napoli, sfincione

Which anchovies to buy for pizza, how many fillets the napoli takes, and why the capers go on rinsed — both doses from the registry the recipe page scales.

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Friarielli · on the salsiccia e friarielli

Friarielli — broccoli rabe — on pizza: how to sauté and squeeze them dry, what to buy outside Naples, and the dose the salsiccia e friarielli is weighed for.

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Pineapple · on the hawaiian

The topping that starts fights, settled: fresh vs canned, why you drain it hard, and the dose the Hawaiian is weighed for — so it sweetens without flooding.

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Onions · on the sfincione

Onions on pizza: raw bite or slow-stewed sweetness, red vs yellow, and why the sfincione cooks them soft first — plus the dose the recipe is weighed for.

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Grilled vegetables · on the ortolana

Grilled zucchini, eggplant and peppers on pizza: char them dry first so they don't flood the pie, then the per-variety doses the ortolana is weighed for.

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Caciocavallo · on the sfincione

Caciocavallo on pizza: what the sfincione's gourd-shaped stretched-curd cheese is, what to buy when you can't find it, and the dose the recipe is weighed for.

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Breadcrumbs · on the sfincione

Toasted breadcrumbs on pizza — Sicily's mollica, the poor man's parmesan: what bread to use, how to toast them so they crisp, and the sfincione's dose.

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Mortadella · on the pinsa mortadella e stracciatella

Mortadella belongs on pizza after the oven, not in it: what to buy (Bologna IGP, pistachio-studded), how to drape it, and the dose the pinsa is weighed for.

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Stracciatella · on the pinsa mortadella e stracciatella

What stracciatella is — the creamy shredded heart of a burrata — why it goes on pizza cold after the bake, and how it differs from mozzarella and burrata.

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The clock is a suggestion. The dough is the boss. In bocca al lupo!

Impasto is a free pizza dough calculator for Neapolitan, New York, Roman, Sicilian, Detroit, thin crust and focaccia doughs — flour, water, salt and yeast weighed in baker's percentages, with the fermentation schedule written for you.

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