We the Pizza is not just another cookbook. It’s the story of Abdul-Hadi’s decision to blend pizza with improving his struggling community in Philadelphia. In the midst of the pandemic, Adbul-Hadi opened his first Down North Pizza in November 2020. The sub-title of his book, Slangin’ Pies and Savin’ Lives, applies to the work Abdul-Hadi has been doing with his pizza business since its start. He decided he would use his pizza business to tackle one of the daunting problems in his community: recidivism.
“I didn’t just want to open up a restaurant to sell pizza and not have something that could benefit the community at-large,” Abdul-Hadi said. “So I chose to focus on one of the various issues that plague this particular part of Philadelphia, which is recidivism. [We focus] on hiring individuals who’ve been formerly incarcerated so that we can provide kind of like a cornerstone for the neighborhood,” he explained. “The neighborhood will understand that we’re coming in to service the neighborhood and also bring some positivity into a neighborhood that has been surrounded by a lot of negative things.”
We the Pizza includes recipes for Abdul-Hadi’s award-winning pizza, the pizza dough, the “Norf” sauce, wings, fries, lemonade and the buffalo cauliflower. I really liked the chapter of recipes for vegetarians and the art of making world-class vegan pizza.
Not only do you get wonderful recipes in We the Pizza but you also get the inspiring stories of the ex-cons Abdul-Hadi’s business have saved. What’s your favorite pizza? GRADE: A
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
FOREWORD — 6
Preface — 9
Playlist — 16
The Down North Commissary — 20
- Doughs, sauces + such — 31
- Vegetable + vegan pizza — 65
- Meat + seafood pizza — 94
- Pizza collabs — 144
- Wings + fries — 170
- Lemonades + milkshakes — 190
We like almost all types of pizza – just not fish or seafood!
My wife’s specialty is Pizza Hawaii which sometimes leds to a discussion …
Totally OT – one of my favourite memories:
Back in communist Yugoslavia in the 1980s we often went on holiday there, even ha a “summer residence”, an old caravan standing on a nudist!!! campsite used also by family and friends.
There was a really good pizzeria nearby (Northern ugoslaia had been occupied by Venetians for a long time …) and a friend always aasked for tuna, but no way, there was none.
Sone evening we went there, the usaual procedure and then he took a large plastic bag – Here we go!
The bag was filled with tuna cans …
The pizzeria guy was so happy.
Sounds like an inspiring story. We need a lot more prople like Abdul-Hadi in the world. It’s so ridiculously easy to make great and healthier pizza at home and you don’t need a special oven or even a pizza stone. I make a batch of dough every month and keep individually wrapped balls in the freezer so I have homemade pizza every weekend through the summer.
My current favorite:
https://www.loveandoliveoil.com/2011/03/caramelized-fennel-and-onion-pizza.html
It’s shockingly good.