Pizza Dough
- 3 cups all-purpose or bread flour, plus more as needed
- 2 teaspoons instant yeast
- 2 teaspoons coarse kosher or sea salt, plus extra for sprinkling
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- Combine the flour, yeast, and salt in a food processor.
- Turn the machine on and add 1 cup of warm water and the oil through the feed tube.
- Process for about 30 seconds, adding more water, a little at a time, until the mixture forms a ball and is slightly sticky to the touch.
- If it is dry, add another tablespoon or two of water and process for another 10 seconds.
- (In the unlikely event that the mixture is too sticky, add flour, a tablespoon at a time.)
- Turn the dough onto a floured work surface and knead by hand for a few seconds to form a smooth, round dough ball.
- Put the dough in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap; let rise until the dough doubles in size, 1 to 2 hours.
- (You can cut this rising time short if you are in a hurry, or you can let the dough rise more slowly, in the refrigerator, for up to 6 to 8 hours.)
- Proceed to step 4, or wrap the dough tightly in plastic wrap and freeze for up to a month.
- (Defrost in a covered bowl in the refrigerator or at room temperature.)
- When the dough is ready, form it into a ball and divide it into 2 or more pieces if you like; roll each piece into a round ball.
- Put each ball on a lightly floured surface, sprinkle with a little flour, and cover with plastic wrap or a towel.
- Let rest until they puff slightly, about 20 minutes.
- Proceed with any of the recipes that follow.
- Be sure to allow the dough to relax, stretching it a little bit at a time, when youre ready to roll it out; pressing the dough onto an oiled baking sheet is the easiest way to get this done.
- And bear in mind that its easier to handle small pies than large ones.
- You can bake the pies or grill them.
- An oven lined with a baking stone (or several uncoated quarry tiles) is ideal, but it requires a peel (a flat sheet of wood or metal with a long handle) to move the pizza about.
- A baking sheet, with or without a lip, is much easier, because you can press the dough right onto its surface.
- Since you use olive oil to prevent sticking, the process is a snap.
- Generally, toppings should never be too wet, or the dough will become soggy.
- In practice, this means fresh tomatoes should have some of their juice squeezed out and be thinly sliced, and preferably salted for a little while, before using; the same holds true for other moist vegetables like zucchini.
- It may be that there are more possible combinations of pizza toppings than moves in chess or atoms in the universe; in any case, there are a lot.
- Simple combinations are best, however; too many ingredients merely serve to muddy the flavors.
allpurpose, yeast, coarse kosher, olive oil
Taken from www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/pizza-dough-386754 (may not work)