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Basic
Pizza Dough
Ingredients:
1
cup warm water, body temperature
1 tablespoon
of dry yeast
1 teaspoon
of sugar
3 cups
all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons
olive or vegetable oil
1 teaspoon
salt
Preparation:
- Sprinkle
the yeast on the surface
of the water and add the teaspoon of sugar and set aside for about 10
minutes.
- Mix
together the dry ingredients,
flour and salt.
- Once
the yeast has proofed,
add half of the flour mixture. Mix until blended. Add the oil and mix
until
smooth. Add the remaining flour until a soft ball of dough forms. Be
careful
not to add too much flour (it will dry out the dough).
- Take
the dough out of the bowl
and knead it on a counter surface until the dough is smooth and elastic
(about 6 to 8 minutes).
- Lightly
oil a bowl, place the
dough in the bowl and cover. Leave the dough at room temperature to
rise
until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
- When
the dough has doubled in
bulk gently punch it down. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured
surface
and divide into 2 equal parts. Form 2 balls.
- Place
oven rack in bottom third
of the oven. Place a pizza stone or tiles on the rack.
- Preheat
oven to 450º F (230º C).
- Prepare
all the toppings for
the pizza.
- On
a lightly floured surface,
flatten or roll out dough into desired shape. Dust a pizza peel with
polenta
or cornmeal.
(This will make it easier to slide the pizza off of the pizza
peel).
- Arrange
the toppings on the
dough, being careful not to spill over the edge.
- Slide
the pizza onto the
pizza stone or tiles and bake until cheese is melted and the crust is
well
browned on the bottom, about 15–25 minutes.
Yield
2 - 12" pizzas
TIPS: You
can put prepared fresh pizza
dough ball in the refrigerator. Cover dough
tightly with plastic wrap. It will last for three days. Remove the
dough
from the refrigerator an hour before use to allow it to come to room
temperature.
The
dough can also be stored in zip lock bags and frozen for up to 6
months.
If frozen, thaw overnight in the refrigerator.
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Did You Know?
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When
yeast is used for making bread, it is mixed with flour, salt, and
warm water (or milk). The dough is kneaded until it is smooth, and then
left to rise, sometimes until it has doubled in size. Some bread doughs
are knocked back after one rising and left to rise again. A longer
rising time gives a better flavour, but the yeast can fail to raise the
bread in the final stages if it is left for too long initially. The
dough is then shaped into loaves, left to rise until it is the correct
size, and then baked. Dried yeast is usually specified for use in a
bread machine, however a (wet) sourdough starter can also work.
A weak solution of water and sugar can be used to determine if yeast is
expired. When dissolved in the solution, active yeast will foam and
bubble as it ferments the sugar into ethanol and carbon dioxide. Some
recipes refer to this as proofing the yeast as it 'proves' [tests] the
viability of the yeast before the other ingredients are added. When
using a sourdough starter, flour and water are added instead of sugar
and this is referred to as proofing the sponge.
It is not known when yeast was first used to bake bread. The first
records that show this use came from Ancient Egypt. Researchers
speculate that a mixture of flour meal and water was left longer than
usual on a warm day and the yeasts that occur in natural contaminants
of the flour caused it to ferment before baking. The resulting bread
would have been lighter and tastier than the normal flat, hard cake.
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