Pizza Dough

I started making our own pizzas at home around a year ago. And the dough was fine. Just fine. We loved that the pizza was from scratch and we knew exactly what was in it, and could make informed decisions on how healthy it was. I've actually found that pizza our way is pretty healthy - I roll out the dough to near paper thin, and then go light on the cheese but heavy on the fresh veggies. Often I skip the tomato sauce base too, going with a thin spread of pesto instead. We love em'.

Along the way I've tried numerous dough recipes. Originally I used a lot of whole wheat flour and sadly that just wasn't working well for me - too heavy, and very little rising. I also tried going light on the salt which resulted in very bland tasteless crusts. I've tried instant yeast, and active yeast, and recipes that called for rising overnight and others that just needed an hour. Not only did we want a good tasty crust but it also needed to be a simple and quick enough process to 'knock up' some dough so pizza could still be a option without thinking too far in advance.

So finally, after reading lots of various recipes, trying things out, trying different flours and seasoning amounts THIS is how we like it (for now!);

Ingredients

• 2.25 tsp active dry yeast
• 1 cup warm water
• 1 tsp salt
• 1.25 tsbp extra virgin olive oil
• 2 - 2.5 cups white unbleached flour (I'll save my whole wheat grains for another time!)

Directions
In a large bowl combine first 4 ingredients to proof. When yeast has started 'bubbling' (around 5 mins) add 2 cups of flour and mix to pick up all loose flour. Empty onto floured work surface and add additional flour as required as you are kneading. Knead for around 5 mins until dough is smooth and elastic. Return to lightly oiled bowl, cover with a damp towel and leave to rise for minimum 1 hour. 

Pizza Baking
We use a pizza stone warmed in a 480F degree oven. I prep the pizza on a sheet of parchment then transfer direct to the stone in the oven and cook for around 8-10 minutes. Our pizzas are VERY thin crust - we get 4 pizzas out of a batch of dough (each pizza is around 10-12"). This gives a nice light crispy crust that bubbles a little. Spare dough can be kept for arouond 1 week in a lightly oiled ziplock bag in the fridge.

(The main reason for blogging this recipe is that I've tried so many different variations of so many different recipes I never remember which was 'the one' so now I'm recording it once and for all so I've got a safe place to keep it and refer back to!!)