Danny Makes Pizza

This page includes instructions for pizza dough, toppings, and additional notes.

Pizza Dough

Ingredients

1 package active dry yeast
1 teaspoon sugar
1 cup of warm water (105 to 115¡F)
3 cups of all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon of olive oil
Corn meal, Olive Oil, Damp Cloth

Steps

In a small bowl, like for cereal, dissolve the package of dry yeast, 1 teaspoon of sugar in 1/4 cup of warm water.
In a larger bowl, combine the 3 cups of flour and teaspoon of salt. Absorb the tablespoon of olive oil into the dry mix. Scrape the dissolved yeast into the mix. Add the rest of the water, and knead until the dough comes cleanly away from the sides.
Turn out onto a surface and knead by hand for about three minutes more. The dough should be smooth and firm. Cover the dough with a damp towel, and let is rise for 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 500¡ with a pizza stone inside on the middle rack.
Divide the dough into 4 balls, about 6 ounces each. Work each ball by pulling down the sides and tucking under the bottom of the ball. Repeat about 5 times.
On an non-floured surface, roll the ball under the palm of your hand until the dough is smooth and firm (this should take about 1 minute.)
Cover with a damp towel and let rest 15 to 20 minutes. (At this point, the balls can be loosely covered with plastic wrap and refrigerated for 1 to 2 days)
Place a ball of dough on a lightly floured surface. Press down on the center, spreading the dough, or a roll about an 8 inch circle, with the border being thicker. Brush lightly with oil.
Place corn meal on the pizza stone, and then place the pizza onto the pizza stone.
Bake the pizza, about 11 minutes, until it is nicely browned. Take it out of the oven. Serve Ni.

Pizza Dressing

Now that you have your dough, it is ready to get the toppings

Firstly, let's use mozarella. Duh, but, come on, mozarella. Not too much. not too cheesy. This is not a contest about making your pizza the cheesiest.

Sauce? Sauce? No, no, no, no, no. No sauce. Use diced tomatoes from a can. And make sure, to let them drain fully, otherwise they will sog your dough.

Red onions, green peppers, and 'shrooms are some good vegetables to add on (although mushrooms are not technicailly a mushroom).

Some people eat pepperoni, but I don't. So, just cut some slices of it, and lay it on top.

Other Notes

Again, I stress not too much cheese. It will overpower the pizza, and the whole point of making your own dough is so you can taste the crust (eat the crust).

Problems with getting the pizza off your preparation plate/area can be difficult if there is not enough corn meal on the bottom of it. I imagine flour can also work. If the dough is sticking too much, then you are going to be yelling a lot when it is falling apart as your try to move it to your oven.

Use a Pizza Stone. So, yeah, you could use a baking pan or something else, but when I asked my Dad if I had to use a pizza stone, he insisted I used one. He insisted, and I insist.