Easy Pizza Dough

Yield: 2 pizzas, 10-inch thick-crust; or 4 pizzas, 10-inch thin-crust

If you've never made pizza dough before or if you have and wish you hadn't, you'll be delightfully surprised at how simple this recipe is. It takes longer to read the recipe through than it does to prepare it (unless, of course, you have taken one of those speed-reading courses). This dough keeps well in the refrigerator overnight or in the freezer.

No time to make dough? Don't call for carryout! Keep your eye out for ready-made pizza dough, which can be found in most Italian delis and gourmet markets.

Tip: If you can talk your family into whole-wheat dough and want to up the nutritional bang for your calorie buck, make a whole-wheat pizza using 70 percent whole-wheat flour. Combine 2-1/2 cups whole-wheat flour and 1 cup of unbleached all purpose flour instead of the 3-1/2 cups of unbleached flour called for in the recipe. This ratio of whole-wheat to white flour yields a more nutritionally dense dough that cooks up like "regular" pizza.

Most "whole wheat" pizza you buy contains very little whole-wheat flour. In fact, you'll rarely, if ever see a 100 percent whole-wheat pizza, because a dough made with all whole wheat is cardboard chewy and just too dense to please the masses.

Ingredients:

3 1/2	cups of unbleached, all purpose flour
2	packages of dry active yeast
1	teaspoon salt
1/2	teaspoon of sugar
1 1/2	cups lukewarm water from the tap
1/2	teaspoon olive oil
	Flour for the work surface
	A sprinkling of cornmeal

	Place flour, yeast, salt and sugar in a mixer fitted with a dough hook. While mixer is running, gradually add water, knead on low speed until dough is firm and smooth, about 10 minutes. Turn machine off.
	Pour oil down inside of bowl. Turn on low once more for 15 seconds to coat inside of bowl and all surfaces of dough with the oil. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let rise in warm spot until doubled in bulk, about 2 hours.

	Preheat oven to highest setting, 500° or 550°. If using a pizza stone, place stone in oven on bottom rack and heat oven 1 hour.
	Punch dough down, cut in half or fourths. On generously floured work surface, place one piece of dough.
	By hand, stretch dough into a circle. For thin pizza, roll dough into a large circle with a floured rolling pin until very thin. Don't worry if your circle isn't perfect, and if you get a hole just pinch edges back together.
	To prevent dough from sticking to counter, turn dough over; add flour to dough, counter and rolling pin as needed. Sprinkle a pizza peel or rimless cookie sheet. Add toppings. Slide dough onto pizza stone or place cookie sheet with pizza on bottom rack.
	Bake 10 to 12 minutes, or until golden. Remove pizza from oven, using a pizza peel if you used a pizza stone, and serve immediately.
	Roll out remaining dough, top with desired toppings, and bake or freeze in freezer bags.

click here to close window