Warning: This takes 2 to 3 hours to make. The more experienced you get, the less time it takes, but if you don't have at least 2 hours to put into this... don't start. Once you open the yeast packet, there's no turning back!
Some important notes to think about before you start. You need to consider that baking bread (which is what pizza crust essentially is) is a science. Yeast eats sugar and produces gas causing dough to rise. The time it takes to rise is determined by quite a few things, but namely, the type of yeast used, the amount of sugar (if any) used, and the temperature of the dough. High altitudes also play a role.
This recipe controls the yeast type and the amount of sugar used in the recipe, but you should take a moment to think about where in your home the best place to let the dough rise is. Ideally, you want the air temperature to be as close to 80 degrees Fahrenheit as possible. If it's 80 degrees outside, just set the dough outside (covered of course). If 80 degrees just isn't going to happen, that's fine; it'll just take a little longer to rise if it's cooler than 80, or a little shorter rise time if it's hotter than 80 (up to about 110 degrees, anything warmer than this is bad news).
Okay, you're ready to start... good, so am I. What took you so long?
What You'll Need:
1 packet Rapid Rise, Active Dry Yeast
1 tsp. White Sugar
1 1/2 cups warm water (120-130 degrees Fahrenheit)
1 tsp. Salt
1 tsp. Garlic Powder
2 tbsp. plus 2 more tbsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
About 4 1/2 cups All-Purpose Flour
About 1 1/2 cup Enriched Yellow Cornmeal
1 Recipe Pizza Sauce, prepared (blog keywords "pizza sauce")
3 cups Mozzarella Cheese
Choice of Toppings.
This recipe will make enough dough for 2 large (14 to 16 inch) pizzas, or 4 small individual 9 inch pizzas. It also offers the versatility to prepare the pizzas and freeze them for later use, or you can bake them now. I will differentiate in the directions between the two.
Directions:
Heat two cups of water in a small saucepan until the temperature reaches about 120-130 degrees. You can use a meat thermometer to keep track of the temperature. You only need 1.5 cups of the water, but heating 2 cups will allow room for some of it to evaporate off during heating. I heat mine up a little bit too much, I'm just waiting for it to cool down to 130 degrees.
When the water is at temperature, measure 1.5 cups and put it in a mug, then add the packet of yeast and the 1 teaspoon sugar. Stir until dissolved and let it sit, uncovered for 10 minutes.
While you're waiting out the 10 minutes, measure 3 cups of flour into a mixing bowl with 1 teaspoon garlic powder. Then, using your hand, flour a big circle on the counter top to knead the dough on, like in the photo below.
After the 10 minutes are up, your yeast/water/sugar mix should be nice and frothy on top.
Add the salt and 2 tablespoons olive oil to the water mix and stir well. Then add the water to the mixing bowl of flour. This is where things start getting messy, and I do mean messy. You're about to put your hands into the stickiest goopiest mess ever, so be prepared. You're going to want to have extra flour sitting around to knead into the dough, but you're also not going to want to put your hands back in the flour bag after they've been in the mix. Set aside about a cup of flour to mix in.
Using your hands, mix the water and flour until all the flour has been moistened, then turn out the mix onto the floured counter top. Start kneading the dough, adding more flour until the dough is no longer sticky. If you're new to kneading, have a look at this article at WikiHow .
When you're done, you'll have a nice ball of dough. Place the dough in a large bowl, or on a cookie sheet seam-side down. Spray the dough with some cooking oil spray to prevent the dough from crusting while it rises, then cover it with a towel and set it in a warm place (80 degrees) to let it rise.
It will take 45 minutes to 1 hour for the dough to rise at 80 degrees. Remember, cooler than 80 means more rise time. Dough is properly risen when it is about double the volume of when it came from the mixing bowl, or about 50% greater in diameter. Under-risen dough is tight and springy, and when gently poked, the indentation tends to spring back. Over-risen dough is loose and has a ripply surface caused by large air cells. When poked it loses gas and collapses. If it has already collapsed or smells like beer, it’s severely over-risen and should not be used. Properly risen dough will hold an indentation when gently poked but won’t lose gas and collapse. If you're not sure how long it will take your dough to rise, check it after 30 minutes by poking it gently with your finger (just enough to indent the dough). Watch for the dough to spring back out. If it does, let it rise for another 15 minutes, then check it again. In the picture below, you can see the dough has doubled in volume since the last picture, and has indentations in it from being tested (poked).
Turn the risen dough out onto the counter. If you're making two large pizzas, cut the dough-ball in half. If you're making four small pizzas, cut the dough in fourths. Then gently reshape the portions back into round balls and place on the counter covered loosely in plastic wrap.
Sprinkle the counter top with cornmeal. It doesn't have to be a thick layer, just enough to keep the dough from sticking to the counter while rolling out. Place one dough ball in the center of your cornmeal and press it down a bit so you can get started rolling it out. Using a rolling pin, roll the dough out, turning it after each roll to keep a round shape until it is about 9 inches in diameter (small pizza) or 14-16 inches (large pizza). If you have trouble with the dough sticking to the counter, toss a little more cornmeal under the dough, just try not to get any on top of the dough. Once the dough is rolled out, brush a light layer of olive oil over the top.
Now put the dough in a 425 degree oven for 4 minutes to par bake the crust. Par baking is a process of partially baking the crust, so that after adding the toppings, the crust will be fully baked by the time the toppings are hot and the cheese is melted and slightly browned on the edges. If making frozen pizzas, par baking helps a lot here too, since the toppings will thaw a lot faster than the crust in the oven. If the dough was raw coming out of the freezer, the toppings would be charred by the time the crust was done. If you have one, put the dough directly on a pizza stone. If you don't have a pizza stone, use either a pizza pan or a cookie sheet, just don't put the dough directly on the oven rack. Repeat this process for the other balls of dough, one at a time.
Here is the crust after par baking for 4 minutes.
Top the crust with pizza sauce (blog keywords "pizza sauce") using as much as you like. Then sprinkle with a layer of mozzarella cheese. Place whatever toppings you like on top and sprinkle with just a bit more cheese, which helps hold the toppings in place once the pizza is baked.
If you're planning to eat now, put the pizza back in the 425 degree oven and bake for about 8 to 12 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and slightly browned on the edges. You can try brushing the crust with butter if you choose before baking.
If the pizza is for freezing, wrap each fully assembled pizza in plastic wrap separately. It will probably take two sheets of plastic wrap side-by-side to wrap the pizza completely. Stack the wrapped pizzas on top of each other, then wrap the whole stack in aluminum foil and place in the freezer.
When you're ready to bake a pizza, place a frozen (not thawed) pizza on a pizza pan, stone, or cookie sheet in a 350 degree oven until the toppings are hot and the cheese is all melted. Enjoy!
At a later time, I will post this recipe in short-form so that you don't have to read all the tips and such each time you make these.
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