Pizza Crust 101

Lots of people think making dough for pizza crust is difficult. Dough for pizza crust is actually a lot easier to make than most people think. Even on the most busy of days pizza dough can be made ahead of time to help with a quickly prepared and nourishing meal. All without the need of costly equipment like pizza peels or pizza stones. Use them if you like but there's no need to do so.There are just a few simple steps, using basic ingredients that are involved in making pizza dough.

The ingredients and materials needed to make pizza dough are:

3 cups flour

1 package or 2 1/4 teaspoons dry active yeast

1 cup warm water

1 teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon olive or vegetable oil

1 tablespoon Parmesan cheese

1/2 teaspoon of each of the following spices(if desired) black pepper, Italian seasoning or oregano, garlic powder, and crushed red pepper

An oven preheated to 350 degrees Fahrenheit

A large baking sheet
A large bowl

A wooden spoon for mixing

Extra flour for kneading, about 1 1/2 tablespoons

Extra oil for greasing, about one tablespoon

Two bowls one large for mixing and another smaller bowl to proof the yeast

Start by setting your oven to 350 degrees and moving the bottom oven rack one station higher than normal and removing the others. In a large bowl, mix together the flour, salt, oil, cheese and spices. You may or may not want to sift the flour. Sifting the flour places more air into it, making it lighter and thereby giving you a more lightly textured crust. If you have it on hand or wish to have more fiber and protein, feel free to use whole wheat flour. Although it can be more expensive, whole wheat flour makes items more filling.

In a small glass bowl mix the warm water, sugar and yeast. Allow the yeast to proof for around ten minutes. Proofing is a way of testing that the yeast is truly active. After the ten minute proofing time, there should be a bubbling white foam on the surface of the mixture. This foam means that the yeast has digested the sugar and produced carbon dioxide bubbles. These bubbles help pizza dough to rise. Add the yeast and warm water mixture to the dry ingredients and stir. The water for the mixture shouldn't be too warm. 70-75 degrees or lukewarm is best. Water much warmer than that will kill the yeast.

While stirring all of dough ingredients together, watch for a large ball to form. As this happens the dough will pull away from the sides of the bowl. Once the dough has formed the ball, turn it out onto a lightly floured counter. Knead the dough for five minutes. Be careful not to knead the dough for too long or the finished product will be tough. Place the pizza dough back into the bowl and in a warm place for 30 minutes. After the half hour is up, turn out the dough and knead it again for 5 minutes. Stretch it out onto a baking sheet to form a rough rectangle. Top the pizza dough with sauce, cheeses, meats and vegetables and bake for 30 minutes. Allow the finished pizza to rest for 5 minutes before slicing and serve with a green salad.

Sources:

TheKitchn.com

Personal Experience

MayoClinic.com