We the Pizza

Knock-outrecipes for award-winning, Philadelphia-style pizzas, wings, shakes, and more, from Down North, the pizzeria owned and operated exclusively by formerly incarcerated people, featuring poignant stories from its employees.

Created and launched by Philly born-and-bred entrepreneur Muhammad Abdul-Hadi, the mission of Down North Pizza is to reduce recidivism rates in North Philly and serve up the most insanely delicious food while doing it.

We the Pizzatells the Down North story about how the restaurant fulfills its mission to educate and support the formerly incarcerated while serving dope food. Atestament to survival and second chances, this cookbook offers recipes for the tender, crispy-edged, square-cut, sauce-on-top pies that are Down Norths signature dish; a whole chapter is devoted to vegetarian and vegan pizzas likeNo Better Lovemade with four cheeses and the arrabbiata-inspiredNorf Sauce, while the meat and seafood pizza chapter features their most popularRoc the Micpepperoni pie as well as the smoky berbere-brisketTales of a HustlerandSay Yes, topped with jerk turkey sausage, roasted butternut squash, kale, ricotta, and lemon-honey drizzle.

The 65 recipes for pizzas along with classic and creative wings, fries, lemonades, and shakes are paired with cinematic photography of the pizzas in their natural setting and out in the wilds of Philadelphia, with lots of journalistic-style photography of the Down North crew making dough and slinging pies. At the same time,We the Pizzaprovides detailed historical information about incarceration in the United States along with empowering stories from Down Norths formerly incarcerated staff. And with exclusive pizza recipes from renowned chef-supporters like Marc Vetri and Marcus Samuelsson,We the Pizzacelebrates ingeniously delicious pizza, as well as the power people have to rise above their circumstancesif simply given the chance.