How To Cut Veggie-Loaded Pizza To Keep The Toppings In Check

It can be tempting to turn the bounty of a summer vegetable garden into a decked-out pizza pie, but anyone who's ever tried it knows that it usually ends up in disappointment. Not because of the pizza's flavor. There's nothing better than a freshly grilled veggie pizza. Instead, it's because all those delicious toppings fall off the moment you cut into it.

The wheel pizza cutter might be most people's go-to option for cutting pizza at home, but it's not the best tool out there. The secret to cutting through all of those delicious toppings with ease is actually to use scissors. Cutting pizza with scissors might sound like a joke at first, but it is actually one of the easiest ways to cut through any pizza. Because of the thin crust, the shears are able to cut right through any pie without disturbing the cheese or other favorite toppings as much as a wheel cutter would.

If you still doubt the power of the pizza scissors, then rest easy knowing that this pizza hack is Italian approved. 

Cutting pizza with scissors is actually a common practice in Italy. In most pizza al taglio (meaning "pizza by the slice") shops in Italy they use scissors to cut through large, rectangular slab-style pizzas. This is especially common in Roman pizzerias. Not only does this make cutting through the pizzas quick and easy, but it allows customers to request how much they want. Diners tell the employee if they want more or less as they gesture with their scissors, they cut the slices, and they are charged by the weight of the pizza. Not dealing with different menu sizes or trying to make endless personal pizzas keeps the line moving quickly and gets you your pizza quicker.

This trick has been seen more often Stateside as well at pizzerias like Rock Pizza Scissors, Sullivan Street Bakery, or Bonci Pizza which all use scissors to cut their pizzas. Whether you need to cut square pieces or triangular, a good pair of kitchen shears will give you more control and cutting power than a wheel cutter any day.

The best thing about upgrading from the wheel cutter to a pair of kitchen shears is that you'll have a new multi-purpose kitchen tool added to your arsenal. They can make dicing herbs or breaking down a whole chicken a breeze. The best pairs also come apart easily which makes cleaning, disinfecting, and sharpening these scissors a much more simple task as well.

Chef Ann Kim told Food & Wine that her pizzeria sends out their wheel pizza cutters to be sharpened every week. Just like any set of knives, the key to getting a good cut is to keep your tools in good shape. Kitchen shears will need the occasional sharpening but can be honed with conventional sharpening tools much more easily than a wheel pizza cutter.

If you do want something pizza specific, you can always opt for the Scizza from Dreamfarm which is designed for cutting and serving pizza slices. Though chef Cathy Whims of Nostrana told HuffPost that any old pair of scissors will do the trick just as well. Just be sure to sanitize them properly before use, and maybe clean them before they're used for your next crafting project as well.