Basic Pizza Dough

  Another thing I get asked alot by my friends is how I make my pizzas.  Well, I don't have my own recipe for the dough, and pretty much all pizza dough recipes seem to be alike or very similar, to me, so far.  Maybe I just don't have any Italian in my blood to tell the difference. Still, I usually use this recipe from The Food Network Magazine for my pizza dough. This is a basic dough, and can be used for all kinds of Italian foods, other than pizza.  Typically, once the dough is stretched and put on a baking sheet, or pizza cooking stone, it only takes 5 to 10 minutes to cook, in a 500 degree oven, even with all the other pizza toppings added. With this basic dough, you can make your own pizza with the toppings that you like.  I do have a lasagna sauce that I make homemade for most everything I cook Italian, and I use it for a pizza sauce, as well.  I'll post the lasagna sauce later, too, so you can use it for lasagna, pizza, or any other Italian recipes. Even with it, I'm changing up how I make the sauce slightly, every time.  Hope this basic pizza dough recipe helps. It's best to make it homemade, instead of buying the store-bought doughs. It tastes so much better, and the dough is able to fall into place where you want it, compared to the store-bought pre-made. Enjoy! :-)


Basic Pizza Dough

Active: 30 mins./ Total: 2 hrs., 10 mins./ Makes Two 1-pound dough balls.
1 Tbsp Sugar
1  1/4-oz packet (2-1/2 tsp)  active dry yeast
3 Tbsp  extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for brushing
3-3/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
1-1/2 tsp of salt

  Whisk  1-1/3 cups of warm water (105 degrees) and the sugar in a bowl; sprinkle the
yeast on top. Set aside until foamy, about 10 minutes.  Stir in the olive oil.

  Whisk the flour and salt in a large bowl.  Make a well in the center of the flour and pour
in the yeast mixture.  Gradually stir with a wooden spoon to make a rough dough.

  Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead until smooth and elastic,
about 5 minutes, dusting with more flour if necessary.  Form into 2 balls.  Brush 2 large
bowls with olive oil, add a ball of dough to each and turn to coat with the oil.  Cover
tightly with plastic wrap and set aside at room termperature until doubled in size, about
1 hour, 30 minutes.  Roll out and top as desired, or wrap in plastic wrap and freeze up to
a month.  If you are making only one pizza, freeze the second pound of dough for later.