PIZZA PIZZA PIZZA dough

Pizza Dough...mmmmm why buy pizza when you can make your own at home..it really is very easy just whip up some dough in the morning or the day before and you can have pizza whenever you decide! Also its good to have a good pizza dough recipe because you can use it for so many other dishes like monkey bread, crazy bread, flat breads...the list could go on and on. Here is a very simple pizza dough recipe.

First i Add my yeast in the bowl that i want mix my dough in, you can do this either by hand or with a kitchenaide mixer

Add in warm water (it should feel warm to the touch but not too warm or it will kill the yeast) and i add honey to feed the yeast.

After about 5 or 10 minutes depending on the kind of yeast you have (instant or not) it should foam up like this, now you can finish your dough.

Add in flour (either bread or all purpose) and some extra virgin olive oil. Mix until everything is well combined. Once everything is combined you can either knead the dough with your machine or by hand. I find that by hand work well for me when there isn't a big amount. Another thing i want to point out is the hook on the kitchenaide, in the picture i used a paddle hook because this is a very small amount of dough but normally you would use a dough hook which is one curved line.

After the dough has been kneaded enough (it should be smooth and elastic) place it in a greased bowl for 2 hours and let it double in size.

I ended up baking two batches because i didn't think it would be enough (but for us 3 it was more that enough) So after the dough has risen you COULD use it now but if you want a really good dough i would let it rise one more time. The more it rises the chewier the crust. Another option would be to refrigerate the dough overnight and then 2 hours before you want to make pizza you take it out and let it rise.

And it is as easy as that to make pizza dough...i know it might seem like alot but trust me all you do is mix for a few minutes and the rest of the time it is just sitting there rising. Try it this dough came out very chewy and nice. When you cook the dough, if you want a crunchy chewy crust like a pizza oven then either use a pizza stone OR place it on a baking sheet with cornmeal or flour at the bottom and place it at the bottom of your hot 450 degree over for about 5 to 8 minutes (until the bottom is lightly brown) and then move the pizza to the middle of the over and let it continue to cook for 10 more minutes.

Written Recipe:

1 teaspoon yeast

1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon warm water (105 to 110 degrees F)

1 1/2 cups bread flour or all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon honey

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil plus 1 tablespoon for coating