Pettit, who worked in a pizzeria in his youth, shares this cardinal pizza rule from his old boss: “The way you can tell a good slice of pizza is to pick it up and hold it lengthwise then fold it; if it holds up, that’s a good slice,” he says. “When we used pizza pans without the holes, it was so sloppy. With perforated pans, it’s crisp on the bottom, not burnt, and it holds up.”

Typically, a 16-inch pie will yield eight slices, but CCSD wanted to add value with a bigger slice. Pizza company Big Daddy, which sent reps out to “train the trainers” on new pizza techniques, helped CCSD custom-design “the equalizer,” a pizza slicing tool that makes 6 rather than 8 slices perfectly even.

A slicer like this reduces food costs and improves consistency, all while making a nice big slice that will go up against the district’s classic personal pan pizzas, which are still on the menu.

While most pizzas in the district will continue to be classic pepperoni or plain cheese, kids in this Southern school district (and their teachers) have fallen for the iconic flavor from Buffalo, presented as this craveable spicy Buffalo chicken pizza with Frank’s Red Hot sauce blended into tomato sauce.

The full pies at CCSD are served on wooden boards and available in cute paper boxes, adding to the pizza-centric experience.

The Schwan’s Chef Collective is a group of commercial/celebrity chefs from around the country who travel to onsite locations for the Kitchen Collaborative, bringing new ideas using products from Schwan’s Company. A recent Kitchen Collaborative featured top Miami chef Todd Erickson of “Beat Bobby Flay” fame and the Schwan’s team heading to Park Nicollet Methodist Hospital in Minneapolis, MN.

The Park Nicollet foodservice team has been looking to improve their pizza offerings, but challenges abound, including the need for a pizza that can hold up for a long lunch service and into after hours to serve all employees and visitors the best possible pizza.

This was one of the new pizzas created during the Kitchen Collaborative. All of the new pizzas feature a starter crust pizza by Schwan’s that allows for topping customization.

This Philly cheese pizza was tested with both regular cheese and Cheez Whiz. “Our group felt that the Philly cheese and barbecue chicken pizzas were great, due to appearance, and easy to assemble,” says Monica Wilm, MHA, RDN, LD, director of nutrition and food services at Park Nicollet.

One of the new sauces to come from the brainstorming session was country gravy, a sauce that works surprisingly well for a savory, breakfast-style pizza.

The Park Nicollet hospital foodservice team was also looking for fun, interesting ways to use the pizza dough. These ham and gruyere pinwheels were the result of testing and tweaking different combos.

Green pizza can come in many forms, with a variety of different greens, and it’s a great way to make your pizza selection look super fresh.

At the Microsoft campus in Redmond, WA, pizza concepts abound, and gorgeous pies like this one are commonplace.

Taking the green trend into the sauce itself, this pie from Microsoft uses pesto as a base for flavor-packed ingredients like caramelized onions.

This concept was developed to introduce an authentic, Napoli-style pizza to the Microsoft campus, a reinvention of what had been a self-serve pizza concept that had gotten a little boring.

Napoli pizza dough is hand-kneaded and must not be rolled with a pin. The resulting crust is almost paper thin, and very little sauce is used, so as not to weigh down the crust.

Napoli pizza is traditionally baked in a wood-fired or domed oven at 800-1,000°F, for no more than 60 to 90 seconds.

Veloce is another pizza concept on the Microsoft campus, playing into the trend of cut-apart pizza in a square shape with different toppings.

Veloce offers a rotating menu with 4-6 pizzas daily, but it’s not build-your-own. As guests arrive, what you see is what you get. They just tell the attendant how much of each pizza style they would like and then they weigh and pay.

At Duke University, the state-of-the-art woodfire pizza ovens make it possible to create some stunning pies. Recently, they’ve been coming up with some cool new toppings, like this chicken tikka masala pizza with many seasonings, including garam masala, cayenne, cardamom, coriander, basil and oregano with thick slices of mozzarella.

A sure sign of the hazy days of summer, rhubarb on the menu is always a good idea. At Duke, fresh rhubarb is paired with Granny Smith apples, honey, barbecue sauce, basil and ricotta cheese for an unforgettable new pie.

The American pizza style that’s been garnering attention as the one to watch all over the country is Detroit style: a square, luscious, crispy-sided creation that trend-tracking chef Dax Schaefer, executive chef with spice company Asenzya, definitely has his eye on. “That pizza is really, really good,” Schaefer says. “I love the crispy edges where the cheese goes against the pan.” Check out his blog for more in-depth Detroit pizza info. Another style Schaefer says to watch: St. Louis pizza with a very thin crust and Provel processed cheese. Strange but true! 

The birthplace of pizza, Italy is one place where pizza culture is as alive as the yeast in the dough. This article takes a look at some very cool, rustic, rarely-seen-stateside pizza styles happening in the regions of Italy right now, including mpigliati con le sarde, cullura, pitta, pizza al taglio (pictured) and more.