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Cheap Eats: Pizza and pasta a perfect match at Pronto Pizza

Posted: 05/02/2012 10:14:45 AM EDT

Ariana Stewart of Pronto Pizza and Pasta prepares pizza dough at the Central Market stand in York. Pronto Pizza opened in November, and serves pizza and pasta that customers may customize. (FLIPSIDE - JASON PLOTKIN)

Engaged couple Lisa Linton and John Bozich merged their culinary strong suits when they opened Pronto Pizza and Pasta at Central Market in York.

Linton, a pastry chef, and Bozich, a cook with a flair for preparing Italian food, both wanted to own a business.

"You can't generate wealth working for someone else," Bozich said.

The couple - who met when Linton was Bozich's instructor at Yorktowne Business Institute - wanted to begin small with low start-up costs, so they turned to the market. However, they had to find a niche that wasn't filled. Pronto serves pizza and pasta that customers can customize for a flat rate.

Like any good relationship, they each brought different skills to the table when they opened their business in November. Bozich contributed pasta recipes from his Italian grandmother. He said Italians don't measure anything, so he had to figure out the ingredient measurements.

Linton created the recipes for the crusts and marinara sauce, which Pronto started selling in pints after customers asked for it.

For pizzas, customers choose the crust - white or wheat - sauce and toppings. Sauces range from roasted garlic olive oil to marinara to spinach and walnut pesto. Toppings include sweet Italian sausage, smoked turkey bologna and walnuts. Pastas in a variety of flavors can be topped with the same sauces and toppings available for pizzas. Ingredients change depending on the season.

I stopped by Pronto to pick up lunch recently. A small pizza oven, a food scale and a dough mixer lined the counters at the beige-and-red stand.

I ordered a personal pizza with mozzarella and four-cheese blend, grilled chicken, spinach, mushrooms, onions and fresh tomatoes. I watched employees grate cheese in a food processor and push their hands into fresh dough as I waited a little more than 10 minutes for my food.

When I ate the pizza , the sauce tasted sweet, and the crust was thin and chewy - my favorite. It had a nice, even mix of toppings.

I loved that I got to choose my toppings, rather than select from a list of specialty pizzas. Even better, I could order a personal-size pizza with whatever toppings I wanted for $7 and a large for $13. Most pizza shops sell slices that are limited to pepperoni and plain.

Bozich said he and Linton studied commercial pizza shops before they opened Pronto and questioned why businesses charge extra for toppings.

"Why should you pay for that?" he said. "Most people don't get more than a couple of toppings, anyway," he said.

Bozich said Pronto also offers catering, ranging from high-end to casual, and will work with customers to meet their needs.

He said he and Linton have fun cooking together and that they play off of each other's styles.

"We respect each other's opinions," Bozich said. "That's why it works."

Cheap Eats profiles local restaurants, aiming to please our palates and our wallets. Reach Leigh Zaleski at 717-771-2101, lzaleski@ydr.com, @leighzaleski.

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