ST. LOUIS — Father Dominic is an expert of many things…Sacred Scripture, the Holy Trinity, and well…bread.
“I love to eat bread,” says Father Dominic. “My mom would make me cornbread instead of birthday cake because that is what I asked for.”
His love for bread has coined this Benedictine the name, “Bread Monk.” From 1999 to 2001, the Bread Monk could be seen on television screens teaching recipes, and life lessons on the popular PBS show, “Breaking bread with Father Dominic.”
However, his passion for baking started from his own mother’s kitchen. Father Dominic shares his first taste of life as a ‘baker’ was when his mom helped him bake french bread for a class project in the 5th grade. A feeling of joy that stuck with the young baker! Once he joined the monastery, word traveled fast about his expertise.
“They started putting recipes in my mailbox, and I expanded my repertoire.”
Soon, this baker, turned monk, turned tv star took on yet another title, author! Father Dominic is the author of 11 different books including Thursday Pizza Night.
“Buddies of mind bought me my own backyard oven, and then I was off and galloping, just having a blast experimenting.”
In the monastic community, monks have a little recreation on Thursday nights. Monks would play bridge and uno. So, Fr. Dominic started making pizza, and with it, came plenty of combinations! Now, he has recently released this fan favorite as a second edition to account for the backyard pizza ovens.
“I started exploring all that and realized I needed a whole new section, a whole new chapter.”
From recipe ideas to tips on technique, this cookbook is perfect for those looking to expand their pizza kitchen! For Father Dominic, the joy of baking bread and crusts goes beyond the empty plate, but recognizing how through baking that we might even learn a thing or two.
“People are hungry for all sorts of things; what kind of hunger can you feed?”
You can purchase Thursday Pizza Night: Second Edition as well as explore his other books and recipes on his website here.