| Pizza Dough Paul Dumas |
|
|---|---|
| prep time: 02:00 cook time: 00:20 serves: 6-8 cost: $0.60 + toppings vegetarian (optional) |
|
Pizza has great significance for all of us. We all know it as one of the four major food groups; as the only kind of shop in certain small college towns. For us it also brings back the housemateÑat a house where we all cooked dinner for everyone else once a weekÑwho only ever made pizza; and Alan Ingling's top-your-own-pizza parties, to which people brought the strangest things. |
|
| 2 cups tepid water 2 t sugar 4 1/2 t yeast 2 T olive oil 5 c flour (white, wheat or a combination) 1-2 t salt (optional) standard toppings: 1-2 c tomato sauce pepperoni browned pork sausage mushrooms onions green pepper 1-2 c mozzarella cheese |
Dissolve sugar in water and mix in yeast. Let stand 5 minutes until top appears foamy. Add oil right before use.
Mix all dry ingredients together and form a large well in center. (I prefer doing it in a large metal bowl, but some like the feel of a large wooden cutting board) Pour the liquid mixture into the well and fill it almost to the top. With a wooden spoon, stir the liquid, scraping flour from the walls of the well. Soon a wet ball of dough will form. Continue adding the liquid and mixing with the spoon. When your hand starts to hurt, and you have an ugly mass of dough, put down the spoon, flour your hands and rip into it! Form a ball with the dough and start kneading it. I like to kneed it into a flat mass about 3x longer than it is wide, fold it into thirds, turn 90 degrees and repeat. Continue kneading for about 10 minutes. Add flour until you can stick your finger in and the dough bounces back without feeling too wet and sticky. Place in an oiled bowl, cover with a damp towel and let sit until it doubles in size (1-2 hours). Punch down, cut into the size pieces you need, roll them into the shape desired, spread on oiled pizza pans, and let rise about 30 minutes more. Add toppings and bake!
|