Standard Pizza Crust

It isn’t a whole lot of work to make your own pizza dough.  Here is our favorite crust recipe.  I am using freshly ground flour, but really, this recipe worked with every kind of flour that I have ever used.

Standard Pizza Crust

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp (or 1 packet) active dry yeast
• 2 tsp sugar
• 3 cups flour
• 3 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 cups lukewarm water
• 2 tbsp olive oil

Directions

• Stir together the dry ingredients in a large bowl.
• Make a well in the center, add the liquid ingredients and stir from the center outward, gradually combining all ingredients well.
• Knead dough for 5 – 7 minutes on a floured surface, adjusting consistency if needed: more water if dough is too dry, more flour if it is too wet.  The dough should be smooth and elastic when you are done kneading.
• Transfer dough into a large bowl, cover bowl with damp cloth and let rise for 30-45 minutes or until it has doubled in bulk.
• Punch down and spread on baking sheets or individual pizza baking plates or whatever you wish to bake your pizza on.
• Preheat oven to 500F.
• Add sauce, toppings and cheese of your choice and bake for 8-12 minutes if you have a thicker dough, for 5 minutes if you spread the dough thinner.

The amount given is enough for 1 large or 2 medium size baking sheet(s).  Favorite toppings here are tomato sauce, pepperoni slices and mild cheddar cheese, or ranch dressing, bacon, chicken and mild cheddar.

The featured image is not mine.