Mancini's Bread Company Pizza Dough - Strip

Now it's easy to perfect your pizza hand-tossing method ... without having to make the dough yourself!

Mancini's Bread Company in Pittsburgh's Strip District offers their fantastic pizza dough to go - you can purchase a 1-1/4 lb. ball of plain pizza dough ($2.75), or try the Sun-Dried Tomato & Basil Dough ($3.70), or European Multi-Grain dough ($3.15). Mancini's also offers two pizza kits: one with dough, sauce and cheese ($7.95), and another that also includes pepperoni ($10.35).

We've tried the regular pizza dough, and intend to try both the Mancini's Sun-Dried Tomato & Basil Pizza Dough and the healthy sounding European Multi-Grain.

I have to admit I rolled instead of tossed - next time, I'll have to buy extra and practice!

Enrico's Focaccia Bread - Strip District & Forest Hills

I love Enrico Biscotti's baked goods, but don't seem to get to the Strip District as often as I would like. I was thrilled to find that Enrico's has a booth at my local Forest Hills farmers market this summer!

Enrico's was voted one of America's Top Ten Bakeries by authors Jane and Michael Stern, famous for "Road Food". Enrico's was also inspiration for "The Bread, My Sweet", the lovely movie filmed in the Strip in 2000. The movie, which starred Scott Baio and told the love story of Larry Lagatutta, the owner of Enrico's, and his wife.

And I think I have a new love story of my own with Enrico's Focaccia bread! Focaccia is not quite a pizza, but is more than bread. According to the Merriam-Webster online dictionary, Focaccia is "a flat Italian bread typically seasoned with herbs and olive oil." Wikipedia adds that it "may be topped with onion, cheese and meat, or flavored with ... vegetables."

The Focaccia I purchased at the Forest Hills Farmers Market was thick, yet light and airy. It was seasoned with olive oil, and was dotted with a light tomato sauce that tasted like it contained a hint of wine. It was topped with a light amount of cheese and four perfect leaves of basil.

Wonderful!