It is always pretty cool when you make your own pizza from scratch. It's not hard to do but takes a little time to allow the dough to rise. If you are planning on making pizza from scratch, make sure to leave yourself plenty of time. Or, you can make your crust up ahead of time, freeze it, and pull it out when you are ready to use.
Recipe:
- 2 tsp. Yeast
- 7/8 cup Lukewarm Water
- 2 tbsp. Olive Oil
- 3 cups Flour
- 1-1/4 tsp. Salt
Dissolve yeast with a pinch of sugar, in 2 tablespoons of the lukewarm water (about 105 degrees). Let the yeast and water sit at room temperature for 15 minutes, until the mixture has bubbled and expanded. If yeast doesn't bubble discard it and start over with different yeast.
Combine the dissolved yeast with the remainder of the ingredients. Mix and knead everything together using the bread hook attachment until you've made a soft, smooth dough. It should take 4 to 5 minutes at second speed, and the dough should barely clean the sides of the bowl, perhaps sticking a bit at the bottom. Don't over-knead the dough; it should hold together, but can still look fairly rough on the surface.
Place dough in a grease bowl and cover. Let sit 90 minutes until puffy. Use dough for one large pizza or divide dough in half for two smaller pizzas.
In pan, spray with non-stick cooking spray and drizzle with olive oil. Place the dough in the prepared pan(s). Press it over the bottom of the pan, stretching it towards the edges. You'll probably get about two-thirds of the way there before the dough starts shrinking back; walk away for 15 minutes. Cover the dough while you're away, so it doesn't dry out.
When you come back, you should be able to pat the dough closer to the corners of the pan. Repeat the rest and dough-stretch one more time, if necessary; your goal is to get the dough to fill the pan as fully as possible.
Allow the dough to rise, covered, till it's noticeably puffy, about 90 minutes Towards the end of the rising time, preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
Bake the pizza on the lower oven rack till it looks and feels set on top and is just beginning to brown around the edge of the crust, but is still pale on top. This will take about about 10 to 12 minutes.
Top pizza how you like and then place it back in the oven, on the top rack, for an additional 10 to 15 minutes until dough is browned and cheese is melted. Let cool on metal rack and serve.
Baking Tips:
- Store brought spaghetti sauce makes a good tomato base for your pizza.
- If you want to freeze the crust for later use, after you bake the crust for the first time (before you put the toppings on) cool, wrap well, and freeze.
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