Pizza Dough in 10 easy steps

This is one anyone that eats should learn. I've been trying for over 10 years to get my wife to learn how to make pizza dough. No dice. I think I got her to watch me do it once or twice but that's it. Pizza dough was probably the first "real" food I learned how to make. I could make frozen pizza and food from a box but this was my first real adventure in cooking. My first job when I was in high school was at a local pizza place so it was a natural first step. As I start to write out recipes I've come to realize that I don't do a very good job measuring anything which makes writing recipes somewhat of a challenge. For this crust I measure the water and the yeast but that's it. I've probably made this hundreds of times and after having a few dough disasters I started to go by touch instead of measurements. Try going by look and feel. If it's too sticky add some flour. Too dry? Add a splash of water. The flour measurements I have listed below will get you very close but you may need to make adjustments as needed.

Step One: combine the yeast, water and sugar.

Step Two: Go do something else for 15 minutes or so. You want to give the yeast some time to do its thing. When it starts to form bubbles on the surface of the water it's ready.

Step Three: Add Extra Virgin Olive Oil and salt or any additional seasonings you want (herbs, garlic, etc.)

Step Four: Add Flour and stir until you have a ball formed

Step Five: Knead the dough. This recipe will make four personal sized pizzas, two larger or one extra thick crust pizza. Before you start to knead the dough it may be helpful to divide the dough up whichever way you plan on using it. When I knead I basically grab the dough and with both hands fold the dough under itself which will gently stretch it. It forms a ball that's easier to use later

I added a blend of Italian herbs to this batch. It's an easy way to sneak in more flavor.

Step Six: Now comes the hard part. Waiting. To be honest I've been known to skip this step and go to step seven. To play by the rules cover the dough and let it rise for an hour. This will allow the dough to rise or "proof" which makes for a more flavorful crust and a little easier to work with. I think letting it go longer at room temperature and then putting it in the fridge for a day is the way to go but again I don't usually have that kind of time and people in my house want to eat it not look at it.

Step Seven: Form the crust. This was the most intimidating part for me when I was learning how to make pizza. Probably because I thought pizza needed to be in the form of a perfect circle otherwise it was a failure. Turns out pizza doesn't care what shape it is. If this part makes you a little nervous go ahead and use a rolling pin. (one more thing to wash) Or pound it out with your hands to flatten it. For those of you that want to "toss" the dough in the air practice with a wet wash cloth first. It's really not as hard as you would think but you don't want to mess up the dough you've made. In one way or another form the dough into something that looks like it could be a pizza. Any way you choose be sure you're working on a floured surface.

Step Eight: Add the toppings. If you've been playing along you should have nice sauce to use...

You have two options on how to do this. If you have a pizza peel congratulations, you're a pizza nerd just like me. If not turn a baking sheet upside down and make your pizza on that. Be sure you put corn meal or bread crumbs either the peel or baking sheet before you put your dough on it. Once you're down topping slide it from the peel or baking sheet to the pizza stone

Step Nine: Cook on a preheated pizza stone as high as your oven will go. Cook time will vary depending on thickness of the crust, oven temp and toppings so you'll want to keep an eye on it. It will be in the neighborhood of 8-12 minutes though.

Step 10: Eat!

Pizza Dough Ingredients:

1 1/2 C warm water

1/4 oz envelope dry active yeast

pinch of white sugar

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 tsp salt

3-4 C AP flour start with 3 and add as needed.