Pizza Dough

 

Today we'll make pizza dough.  Pizza is one of the easiest foods to make, but most people still buy it from a store or buy ready made crusts.  You can make the dough for this pizza in a few minutes, and use it after about an hour.
The recipe follows after the jump...

This recipe will make about 4 large pizzas.

What we'll need :

6 Cups All-Purpose Flour

4 Tsp Dry Yeast

2 Tsp Salt

4 Tsp Sugar

2 Cups Warm Water

3 Tsp Oil

On to the cooking.

1. Mix all the dry ingredients in a large bowl.  

2.Make a small well in the center and add the oil.  

3. Slowly pour in the warm water, mixing as you go.  (Use your hands.  This is Italian cooking after all!)

4. When the dough forms a solid mass and all the flour has been absorbed, put it on a floured surface and knead for about 10 minutes.  You'll know the dough is ready when it has reached a smooth, pliable consistency.

5. Form the dough into a smooth ball.  Pour a small amount of olive oil into the bowl and return the dough to it.  Rub the oil over the surface of the dough to keep it from drying out.  

6. Loosely cover the dough with plastic wrap.  Then place a damp towel over the bowel to keep the dough moist.  Put the bowl in a warm place and let it sit for about an hour to an hour and a half.

7. Ok, an hour has passed.  Put your oven on the highest temperature.  The pizzas will cook in 10-15 minutes.  By that time, all the toppings as well as the dough should be cooked.  If you have delicate toppings (broccoli or scallops, etc), you may want to set the temperature slightly lower to avoid burning them.

8. Take a look at the dough.  It's grown to massive proportions!  Punch the air out of it and cut it into individual pieces. 

9. Roll out the dough on a floured surface to the desired size.  I usually make pretty thin crusts, as this dough has a nice crisp texture while remaining slightly chewy.  

10.  Transfer the dough to a baking tray and top with your favorite toppings.  Place into the hot oven for about 10 minutes.  If it doesn't look ready by then, leave it for another two minutes or until the toppings are hot and bubbling.

AFTERTHOUGHTS- 

Point 1- Make sure the water you add is warm.  If it's too hot or too cold, the yeast won't rise. 

Point 2- This dough alone will bake to a pale golden color.  If you want the crusts to bake darker you can brush with some olive oil or even an egg wash.  What I usually do, though, is spread the pizza sauce to the very edge.  It will color and flavor the crusts.
Point 3- You can cut this dough into four pieces for fairly large pizzas.  If you want medium sized pizzas, you can cut the dough into about six pieces.