Basic Pizza Dough

There are as many different "best ways" to make pizza dough as their are pizzerias in the world. I don't proclaim this as the one, true way to make dough, but it is a pretty simple one and ends in a good result. Try your hand at it and then start messing around with the ratios and ingredients to get to a crust you like. Also, remember that you can vary the thickness of the dough to your liking. 

Basic Dough (yield 2 12-14 in. pizza crusts)

• 1 Cup water (lukewarm to help yeast activate)
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1 packet (or 2 1/4 teaspoons) dry, active yeast
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 Tbsp olive oil (optional)
• 2 1/2 to 3 Cups of flour 

Note: bread flour has increased gluten and will yield a crust with a more chewy texture than plain ol' all purpose flour - you can also sub in whole wheat flour; I've found that up to half the flour can be whole wheat with good results. Any more than that and you might find it too dry and cracker-ish.

1. Dissolve the sugar, yeast and salt in lukewarm water (and olive oil, if using)
2. Allow mixture to sit until yeast begins to bloom and mixture gets foamy (about 5-7 minutes)
3. Add flour starting with 2 cups and adding more as needed to make a soft, smooth dough.
4. Knead the dough (either with your hands on a floured surface, or in your mixer or bread machine) until it is smooth and elastic (about 7-10 minutes).
5. Place the kneaded dough in a lightly greased bowl or other container and cover it so the bread dough doesn't form a skin and begin to dry out. Let it rise for 1-2 hours (until the dough doubles in size)
6. Gently deflate the dough, and divide into 2 pieces. Roll each piece, on a floured surface, with a floured rolling pin, into approximately a 12 -14 in circle (depending on your preference for crust thickness) If dough seems to want to spring back to a smaller size, let rest for a few minutes so that it will relax. Then, continue with rolling.
7. Place the rounds on pizza pans; or baking sheets; or if you have a pizza stone in your oven, on parchment. (For pizza on the grill see notes below.)
8. Preheat your oven to 450F. While it is heating, top your pizza dough rounds.
9. Place in oven and bake for 15-20 minutes. Remove when crust is golden and toppings are to your liking.

To Grill pizza: Rather than cooking pizza indoors, they can be cooked on your grill which provides a smoky flavor to your crust and toppings & in the summer is a great way to keep you from heating up the whole kitchen.

1. Prepare grill to about 450 F.
2. Prepare dough rounds as described above sprinkling one side liberally with corn meal to prevent it from sticking to your pan or pizza peel 
3. Place pizza dough rounds (untopped) on grill and allow to cook partially. Bring rounds into the house and flip so that the ungrilled side is now the bottom. 
4. Brush grilled top with some olive oil and then top with your selected toppings.
5. Return pizzas to grill and remove when done to your liking.

Happy Cooking!

sld

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