Pizza

RE THE EX-COP who shot and killed a robber who tried to hold him up as he tried to deliver a pizza. Thank you for getting rid of a bad guy who has been in and out of jail and had cost us taxpayers a great deal of money. No thanks to his parents or single parent who didn't do a good job of raising him to be a lawful citizen. Robert F. Schaffer, Philadelphia

The Italian government is being asked to define pizza. Italy's Green Party, alarmed over numerous food places that now say they are selling pizza, wants laws to establish what constitutes a proper Italian pizza. The Greens believe that none of the coffee bars, American-type hamburger joints, railway-station canteens, grand hotels, tourist-site vendors and others that sell what is labeled pizza actually seems to be making a pizza. The Greens believe that there is no evidence of the pungent odor of a wood- burning oven, in which a proper pizza must be cooked, according to Neapolitan tradition.

There's a reason that there are six Santucci's in the Northeast: The crust is square, deep, and crispy, the tomato sauce is sharp. But they are known for causing pizza mayhem by putting a layer of melted mozzarella beneath the sauce, not the other, expected, way around. Now Santucci's has opened a location in Bella Vista, and it couldn't be more welcome. It's the type of normal, untrendy, sit-down restaurant that makes a neighborhood complete. Here, the non-pizza offerings are stepped up - there's an antipasto board, and hoagie rolls are teeming with slow-cooked meats such as short ribs with wild mushrooms and porchetta.

If there's one thing we know at the Daily News, it's pizza. Specifically, free pizza. So we tossed a couple pies on the ol' expense account to see what Joe Stanfa is serving up at his new - and rather affordable - restaurant in Grays Ferry. Our critics, who were guaranteed anonymity, gave the pizza mixed reviews. But that doesn't mean we won't return to try the chicken cutlet with roasted peppers, broccoli rabe and sharp provolone. Reporter #1: "This pizza is like the button men of old, before wiseguys tried to become celebrities - solid but not flashy.

Six West Philadelphia residents required hospital treatment last night after eating a homemade pizza apparently laced with a hallucinogenic drug, police said. All six were taken to Lankenau Hospital, where they were treated for a toxic reaction to an unknown substance. A doctor at the hospital told police the substance probably was a hallucinogenic. Two of the victims were admitted to Lankenau in stable condition. They are Maria Iannone, 88, of 65th Street near Callowhill, and Michael Ermilio, 56, who lives across the street from Iannone, police said.

Good pizza is a simple matter. Start with fresh ingredients. Strike a proper balance among crust, cheese, oil and sauce. Cook in an oven that's hot enough. Yet Philadelphia and the nation are glutted with bad pizza. We're drowning in it. Choking on it. Smothered by it. Pizza that's pre-fab. Reheated. Drenched in oil or buried in cheese. Yellow cheese. Beige cheese. Fake cheese. Crust that's too thick. Too heavy. Too old. Sauce that's canned. Too processed. Too cheap. Such pizzas are consumed by the tens of thousands every day in Philadelphia.

What's to eat: Wood-fired, bubble-crusted, 11-inch pizzas - a steal at $9 or less. These pies are arguably the best in town. Find it: 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Monday at 440 N. Broad St.; Tuesdays and Thursdays at the northeast corner of 33rd and Arch; Wednesdays and Fridays at LOVE Park. Look for: A red-and-white trailer hitched to a black F-150. Online: www.pitrucopizza.com . Twitter: @PitrucoPizza. Call ahead : 484-602-5454. Around for : Four months.

After serving four generations of a single family at the same Port Richmond location for 72 years, the old brick oven at Tacconelli's Pizzeria has been forced into retirement. "It was a wreck. If I called the doctor for the oven, he would have put it in intensive care," explained Tacconelli's patriarch pizza baker, Vincent Sr. Contractors are hitting the bricks on Tacconelli's stalwart old oven to make way for a new one to carry the family's brick-baking approach to pizza into the 21st century.

Basketball is first on Tyree's fun agenda - and he's earned a trophy that he will be glad to show anyone in sight. Tyree has a long list of activities that he enjoys. Riding a scooter, playing video games, and watching magic shows on television are among his favorites. He's also talented at drawing, and likes to look at illustrations in magazines and copy them. Doing any of these is even better when followed by a delicious cheese pizza. Tyree, 11, has a reputation for having a sweet disposition, despite neglect and abuse in his background.

Rats happen. And when they happen in public places, and people have camera phones, rats go viral. They scurry through social media. They're the Kardashians of pests. A video of rats picnicking around pizza boxes at the popular 13th and Locust Green Eggs Café last Sunday exploded on Twitter and blogs. The video aired on local newscasts, repeatedly. It became the talk of the town, Internet, radio shows. Many comments were as nasty as the subject. Chances are you had a better week than Stephen Slaughter.

Rats happen. And when they happen in public places, and people have camera phones, rats go viral. They scurry through social media. They're the Kardashians of pests. A video of rats picnicking around pizza boxes at the popular 13th and Locust Green Eggs Café last Sunday exploded on Twitter and blogs. The video aired on local newscasts, repeatedly. It became the talk of the town, Internet, radio shows. Many comments were as nasty as the subject. Chances are you had a better week than Stephen Slaughter.

Here is an excerpt from Craig LaBan's online chat of April 16, 2013: Craig LaBan: Saturday night I was drafted by my daughter to be pizza chef for her birthday sleepover party. So, a field trip to South Philly (Faragalli's for dough, Claudio's and Di Bruno's for cheese, pesto, and meats) then I FIRED UP THE BIG GREEN EGG! Yeah, I'm a little enthusiastic. Here's my fave, an admittedly free-form round topped with prosciutto, mozz, and some organic tomato puree that went from tart and bright (when raw)

After three cooking lessons with 11-year-old girls at St. Martin De Porres in North Philadelphia, it was time to add some chemistry to the skills they were learning in the convent kitchen. Not the periodic table, mind you, but the magical alchemy of baking. And what is more exciting than baking pizza from scratch? Because the dough is made with yeast that takes hours to rise, I brought some that already had risen, as well as ingredients so the girls could make some themselves. "Are we actually making the dough?"

Makes 4 small pizzas 1 teaspoon dry active yeast 1 teaspoon sugar 11/3 cups lukewarm water 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil 1 teaspoon fine sea salt About 3¾ cups flour 1.    In a large bowl, combine the yeast, sugar and water, and stir to blend. Let stand until foamy, about 5 mintues. Stir in the oil and salt. 2.    Add the flour a little at a time, stirring until most of the flour has been absorbed and the dough forms a ball. Transfer the dough to a floured work surface and knead until soft and satiny but still firm, 4 to 5 minutes, adding additional flour as needed to keep the dough from sticking.

Michael and Jeniphur Pasquarello have developed a mini-empire in the Loft District near Broad and Callowhill Streets. They are approaching the 10th anniversary of the industrial-chic Cafe Lift , in a former police-hat manufacturing plant at 428 N. 13th St., and the fifth anniversary of Prohibition Taproom , a bar in a former shot-and-a-beer a half-block north at 13th and Buttonwood. New this week is Bufad , a wood-fired BYOB pizzeria at 13th and Spring Garden Streets (215-238-9311)

Mike Giammarino, whose Lombardi's Pizza on 18th Street was displaced in 2005 for the construction of the 10 Rittenhouse condos, found a corner spot in South Philly for his month-old revival, Gennaro's Tomato Pie. Giammarino - whose Lombardi's in New York is acknowledged as the oldest pizzeria in the United States - puts out old-school, well-done New York-style pizza. The signature white pizza has a sturdy yet lightweight crust that holds generous portions of fresh mozzarella and ricotta salata, bubbling and brown.

Love and honor. That's what Kenneth W. Smith Jr., a Northeast Philadelphia pizza cook, says prompted him to phone in the bogus tip that his girlfriend's ex-boyfriend carried explosives on an outbound plane from Philadelphia last September. Smith, 26, pleaded guilty Monday afternoon to making false reports about the plane threat, charges that could send him to prison for 12 to 18 months. U.S. District Judge Gene E. K. Pratter scheduled sentencing for April 16. The Sept.

BEFORE THE Bobby Petrino era begins at Western Kentucky, there's a bowl game to play - the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl against Central Michigan. The game at Detroit's Ford Field on Wednesday night is not far from the campus of the Chippewas (6-6). The Hilltoppers (7-5) will be run by Lance Guidry, named interim coach Dec. 8 after Willie Taggert left for South Florida. They are in their first bowl since becoming a top-tier college-football school in 2009. "Even though coach Taggert is gone, the coaches are still here with us," said running back Antonio Andrews, who has run for 1,609 yards and 11 touchdowns.

Barbara Cummiskey Tacconelli, 70, co-owner of Tacconelli's Pizzeria, a Port Richmond landmark, died Saturday, Dec. 22, of heart failure at Kennedy University Hospital-Cherry Hill. Mrs. Tacconelli grew up with 13 siblings in Port Richmond. At 16, she married Vincent Tacconelli and began helping him operate his family's pizza shop. The couple raised four children on the second floor. Tacconelli's crispy-crusted, brick-oven pizza was always popular with locals. Its fame spread to the suburbs and beyond in the 1980s after it was chosen as a "Best of Philly" by Philadelphia Magazine, and was profiled in The Inquirer and the Philadelphia Daily News and on local TV stations.

A 45-year-old pizza deliveryman was gravely injured by a hit-and-run driver Thursday afternoon in North Philadelphia, police said. The victim was about to leave the shop at Whitaker and Wyoming Avenues, on the border of the Juniata Park and Feltonville neighborhoods, about 4:25 p.m. when a black sedan veered slightly to the right and crushed him against his delivery car, said Officer Paul Busch of Accident Investigations. The man is expected to be removed from life support at Temple University Hospital.