Become a Master Pizzaiolo at SF Cooking School's Pizza-Making Classes

By Mary Ladd Thu., Dec. 13 2012 at 9:25 AM

Categories: Classes, Gift Guide

Flickr/idovermani

Learn to make your own pizza at SF Cooking School.

All through December, SFoodie is bringing you local gift ideas for the food obsessives in your life.

Pizza is beloved by nearly everyone. Yet achieving perfect pie in the home kitchen may not seem so easy -- there's flour to consider, along with cooking time, and let's not forget the sauce options. Give the gift of cheese and step up that pizza game: send a friend (or yourself) back to school at next month's pizza-making class at the San Francisco Cooking School. Priced at $160, it may be a bit more spendy that your usual gift item (or maybe we're just cheap?) but the benefits of getting so many delectable bites of pizza down the line are way worth it. The class is taught by Jill Santopietro, who is known as a walking, talking cooking resource.

She has worked as the food editor at CHOW.com as well as a recipe writer and tester for the New York Times and The Boston Globe, with an office stint at Chez Panisse thrown in for oh-so-fine measure. Here's the full class breakdown from the Cooking School: "Santopietro will walk you through the steps for making pizzeria pizza in your home kitchen. You'll make the dough and learn what you need to do to ensure that blisteringly perfect crust every time. We'll fill the kitchens with toppings to inspire you to make your favorite pies, including homemade tomato sauce, spicy sausage, and tons of veggie options too."

We're in the "yes please" team when it comes to anchovies, which is handy for facetime with Santopietro: she is apparently writing her thesis on anchovies to complete a master's degree in gastronomy from Boston University.

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