My Pizza Dough

I won’t lie – I’m actually pretty annoyed by how easy this recipe is. It also is pretty much a billion calories less than anything that a pizza joint could give me. This is for a personal pan-sized pizza. Double it if you want it for a larger size.

• 1 and 1/2 teaspoons of yeast
• 3/4 cup of flour
• 1/2 teaspoon of sea salt
• 2 teaspoons of brown sugar
• 1/2 cup of warm water
• 1 and 1/2 teaspoons of olive oil
• for kneading, another 1/4th of flour

I put the ingredients into the bowl – in that order, but mixing up the dry ingredients up before pouring in the water and oil. Let this sit for about an hour.

At this point, I pre-heat my oven for 250 degrees. On whatever surface I’m letting my pizza bake, I use about a half teaspoon (no more than a whole teaspoon, though) of extra virgin olive oil, and smear it all over the pan/aluminum foil. Just to make sure my pizza doesn’t stick. I then sit the pan inside of the oven, so that the heat can help the oil spread more.

I then spread a little big of the extra flour on the counter area where I’ll be kneading the dough, making sure the surface is covered pretty well. Some parts of the dough might be sticky, and the flour just helps to prevent that. I dump the dough out on top of all that, and basically knead it around the same way you see on TV. I use my hands, though. I’m old school.

After I knead it into a long roll, I ball it up into a ball and work the dough over one last time, with the final result being one big ball. I grab the oiled pan, and lift the temperature to 350. I take my pizza dough, drop it in the center of the pan and while working from the center, I start to spread it out into pizza formation. (Sorry, I’ve got girly manicured nails – no way I could successfully toss dough!)

Grab your sauce, your toppings, and voilà! Throw it in the oven, give it about a half an hour or so. I’m impatient, I check on mine like every ten minutes like I’ve never had pizza or cooked before. How crunchy or soft the crust is depends upon you. You’ll have to play with your options.

That’s my two slices of green pepper and onion pizza that my daughter left me—from 2010!—because she definitely debo’d me for the first half. I couldn’t even get a picture of the pizza before she stuck me for my slices. Hopefully, you won’t have a greedy toddler robbing your for yours.

Best of luck, and bon appetit!