I love a good pizza. Not some fast-food style, but a traditional Italian, well-made pizza. Just like everyone else, I have my go-to delivery place on hand, but more often than not I am willing to take a touch more time and spend 1/3 of the money to make my own from scratch. And let me tell you. It is soooooo much better and a lot of fun! I highly recommend picking up a pizza stone which runs about $14 and makes a big difference, but if that’s not an option, you are welcome to use a good old cookie sheet and pre-heat that in the oven to get the crust crispy.
This pizza crust recipe takes all of 10 minutes to make. I’ll admit, you do have to make it a few hours ahead of time to let the dough rise, but the active prep time is close to non-existent, and then you just let it sit and do its thing. Trust me, totally worth it! For this pizza, I spent a grand total of $5 on delicious mozzarella and some tomato sauce, and then used the dried basil and crushed peppers I already had in my pantry. And since this makes dough worth two pizzas, you can feel free to make 2, freeze half, or use the dough for soft pretzels, monkey bread, etc. It is a very versatile dough.
After dough is made and before assembling your pizza, pre-heat the oven to 450 degrees with either your pizza stone or cookie sheet in the oven. You want the oven and stone/cookie sheet to be on for about 20 min prior to putting the pizza in.
Pizza Dough Ingredients
· 1 cup + 1 TBSP water, heated to 110 to 115 degrees
· 2 1/4 tsps active dry yeast
· 1 tbs granulated sugar
· 3 cups all-purpose flour
· 1 tsp Kosher salt
· 1 TBSP extra virgin olive oil
· Corn meal for dusting
Instructions:
1. Heat water to between 110 and 115 degrees (about 30 seconds in the microwave)
2. Pour water into bowl of standing mixer then sprinkle 2 1/4 tsps (1 packet) active dry yeast over the water. Next sprinkle 1 tbs of sugar over the yeast. Let it sit until the water has become frothy. If it doesn’t froth, dump your water and start again.
3. Add three cups all-purpose flower and salt to mixer and beat slowly with paddle attachment. As dough starts to form, add oil and keep dough hook running until smooth dough forms.
4. Spray a large bowl with cooking spray. Put the dough ball in and cover with slightly damp dish towel. I always wash my hands from the dough and dry them with the towel I am going to use to drape over the bowl of dough. Allow dough to double in size, about an hour or two. **don’t be afraid to let it sit for more time if you are busy. Extra time won’t hurt it.
5. Pull the dough apart to create two dough balls for two pizza crusts.
6. Sprinkle surface of counter or roll-out area liberally with corn meal and roll out dough to desired thickness.
7. Transfer dough to cutting board and layer with desired toppings.
8. Slide unbaked pizza onto pre-heated pizza stone or cutting board and cook for about 10 minutes until crust is crispy and cheese is melted.
9. ENJOY!