Cheers to Happy: Basic Pizza Dough

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Basic Pizza Dough

I have made alot of Pizza Dough in my life, but never had made one that was quite so easy and fun to work with.....you'll see why in a minute.....

Basic Pizza Dough

1 teaspoon Instant Or Active Dry Yeast

1-½ cup Warm Water
4 cups All-purpose Flour
1 teaspoon Kosher Salt
⅓ cups Olive Oil

Preparation Instructions

Sprinkle yeast over 1 1/2 cups warm (not lukewarm) water.
In a mixer, combine flour and salt. With the mixer running on low speed (with paddle attachment), drizzle in olive oil until combined with flour. Next, pour in yeast/water mixture and mix until just combined.

Coat a separate mixing bowl with a light drizzle of olive oil, and form the dough into a ball. Toss to coat dough in olive oil, then cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and store in the fridge until you need it.
***It’s best to make the dough at least 24 hours in advance, and 3 or 4 days is even better.(although I never think that far ahead and I made it and let it rest covered on the counter for about an hour and it was beautiful!)
***Makes 2 crusts.

pizza dough ready to go....feels nice and soft......

I cut the dough into fourths and it is enough for 4 ten inch pizzas...

Now if you have a gang like mine who eggs you on, you will roll your dough out into a round and put it over your knuckles and start spinning it around and throwing it in the air....

spinning and throwing.....

whoops not quite right, try again.....

ok come to mama.....

perfect!

after you are done playing, put in on a pan that you have oiled with olive oil, use any cookie sheet or pizza pan....next brush it with olive oil and sprinkle with kosher salt.....and you are ready to make the pizza of your choice! My choice was the Margherita Pizza....very basic and simple.....