Pizza Dough

My family is big on Pizza and my father and I are always in competition who can cook better than the other. When my husband and I were dating I took him over to my father's house so they could meet, my dear father, the show off that he is, decided to make my husband Daniel pizza, well to make a long story short my husband raved on and on how it was the best pizza he's ever tasted. Well being the competitive person that I am, and being tired of hearing how wonderful my father's pizza was, I decided to make my own pizza so my hubby could taste...making this longer story shorter, my dad's pizza is now my husband's second most favorite, Ha Ha, I guess I win this one dad! Love you anyways! This recipe is dedicated to my father, who I know that after reading this blog he is going to try to top my pizza dough recipe...hence the word TRY. Hope everyone enjoys my recipes and have fun in the kitchen like I do with my family. Bon Appetit

Pizza Dough

Makes 2 Medium Pizzas

1 Cup Warm Water (Aprox 105-110°F)

2 tsp Sugar

1 Pkg ( ¼ oz ) Dry Active Yeast

6-7 Tbsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil, and extra for brushing Pizza Pan

2-2 ½ Cups All Purpose Flour

3 tsp Salt

Coarse Cornmeal for Bottom of Pan

Procedure:

Set up mixer with dough hook, in the mixing bowl add water, sugar, yeast and 1 Tbsp of Olive Oil. Mix and set to the side for aprox. 5 minutes or until you see yeast mixture get foamy.

In a separate bowl combine 1 ½ cups of flour and salt.

In the bowl with the yeast mixture turn on mixer to low, add dry ingredients ¼ cup at a time making sure everything is well incorporated before adding more flour. Dough should form into a ball after adding all flour mixture. If dough is still sticking to the sides add more flour 1 tablespoon at a time. If dough is too dry add more olive oil 1 tablespoon at a time. Once dough is properly mixed it should feel soft and have a smooth texture appearance, if you touch the dough it should not feel sticky.

Place dough on a slightly floured wooden board, and knead it for approximately 5 minutes. (Fold dough various times). Make into a ball.

Grease large bowl with 1 Tbsp of olive oil. Place ball of dough in bowl and move it around to coat dough with oil. Turn dough around so that coated side is up. Cover with plastic wrap and warm towel. Place dough in a warm and draft free area, such as a microwave or oven.  Let stand for 1 ½ hours or until dough doubles in size.

Once dough doubles, poke fingers in the middle so the dough deflates. Cut dough in half, set aside again covered for another 10 minutes to make dough easier to handle.

Work one half of the dough by kneading it and stretching it out with a rolling pin. Make sure dough is about ½ inch larger than the pizza pan you are using.

Grease pan lightly with olive oil and sprinkle cornmeal on the bottom of pan. Work dough onto pan, brush edges lightly with olive oil. Using a fork poke dough a few times in different spots around the pizza, make sure not to make large holes in your dough (this is so your crust stays thin and doesn’t bubble up).

Add your favorite toppings and bake at 425° F for approximately 25 minutes or until crust is golden brown and cheese is melted and bubbly.