Pizza (dough)

Wednesday John invited his former high school history teacher over for dinner with some of his other high school friends. John, James, and I made dinner. I was put in charge of pizza dough and James was put in charge of sauce and toppings.

I made my dough using the following recipe. It creates two very thin (10-14 in.) pizza crusts.

Pizza Dough

Mix one packet of dry yeast with 3/4 C warm water and allow to sit in a warm place until active (frothy).

In a large bowl combine 1 tsp. fine sea salt and 2 C all-purpose unbleached flour.

Make a well in the center and add 1 1/2 to 2 Tbl. olive oil to it. (I used olive oil that John had infused with garlic).

Add the yeast/water mixture to the well. Stir to combine beginning at the edges of the well and slowly bring in more of the flour/salt mixture.

If it becomes too stiff to stir, use your lightly floured hands to combine.

Knead 5 min. until smooth and glossy. It should be fairly stiff. (If it is too wet, add more flour.)

Place the dough into a lightly oiled bowl and turn the dough to coat in the oil. Cover with clear film and leave to rise in a warm place for 60 min and doubled.

Roll out on a lightly floured surface and place on baking sheets dusted with cornmeal. Brush the top of the rolled out dough with olive oil.

Prepare with sauce, toppings, and cheese and bake in a preheated oven at 500F for about 8 min.

James will be sharing his expertise on the rest of our pizza preparation soon.

Yum.