recipe project

1. Measure warm water into 2-cup measuring cup. Sprinkle in yeast; let stand until yeast dissolves and swells, about five .minutes. Add room temp. water and oil; stir to combine.

2. Pulse flour and salt in workbowl of large food processor fitted with steel blade to combine. Continue pulsing while pouring liquid ingredients (hold back a few tbs.) through feed tube. If dough does not readily form into ball, add remaining liquid, and continue to pulse until ball forms. Process until dough is smooth and elastic, about 30 seconds longer.

3. Dough will be tacky, so use rubber spatula to turn out dough onto lightly floured work surface; knead by hand with a few strokes to form smooth, round ball. Put dough into deep oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise until doubled in size, about two hours. Punch dough down with your fist and turn onto lightly floured work surface. Divide and shape into rounds. Cover with sauce and toppings.

notes: I roll the dough into rounds and then stretch it by tossing or whatever means you can use so that it doesn't tear. It helps if you let it relax for five minutes during the process. Place a piece of parchment paper onto a pizza peel or onto a flat cookie sheet. Put the dough rounds onto the parchment. Spread sauce and toppings, except for cheese, onto the dough. Slide the parchment with pizza onto a preheated pizza stone. The oven should be hot...450 degrees or so.
I bake for 10-12 minutes and then add the mozarella cheese. If you put the cheese on right away, it will start to brown and you don't want that. Continue baking until the crust is crisp. You can lift an edge and check for desired degree of browning. Remove by pulling the parchment with the pizza onto a peel or cookie sheet. If you have more time, reduce yeast to 1/2 tsp. and let the dough rise for eight hours. This is supposed to make a more flavorful crust. Slow rising and less yeast is better for flavor in bread.