Pizza has always, and will always be, my favorite food! Working in a pizza place was my first real food related job, over 15 years ago!
To be honest,
for years now I haven't been making my own pizza. I didn't think I could get pizza out of a home oven that tasted as good as one coming out of a pizza or wood fired oven, but this has all changed now!
Wanting pizza more than anything and being stuck at home has given me so much time with dough to test and perfect this recipe! This dough comes together quickly and there is enough for a few pizzas or maybe even some focaccia bread - you can always freeze either the dough or extra pizza for later too!
'Cheesus Crust this is good!' Pizza Dough Recipe:
Ingredients:
3 cups Warm water (not hot!)
4 packets or 1 oz. Dry yeast
4 tbsp. Sugar
1/2 cup Extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for coating the dough
1 tbsp + 1 tsp Kosher salt
8 cups All-Purpose flour, plus more for dusting
Instructions:
Pour 3 cups of warm (but not hot, otherwise the yeast will die) water into a bowl and sprinkle with yeast - let sit for 5 minutes until the mixture gets foamy.
Whisk sugar, oil, and salt into the yeast mixture.
Sift flour into mixture and stir until sticky dough forms.
Place in a well oiled bowl, making sure to brush oil on top as well.
Cover with plastic wrap and set in a warm place until the dough doubles in size, about an hour.
Dump dough onto floured surface and split into three even pieces.
Roll each dough segment with your hands bringing the sides of the dough into the bottom middle of the dough. Roll the dough in your hands once you have done this to create a smooth dough ball - place on an oiled sheet tray.
This dough can be kept in the refrigerator for a couple of days (covered) or you can use it right away for your favorite pizza recipe. I would recommend letting it sit in the fridge for about an hour so it is easier when rolling out. We used the dough for a deep dish pizza, instructions follow, but feel free to use it for any type of pizza!
Preheat oven to 450°. Remember to remove the dough from the refrigerator about an hour before you want to bake it. This is a good time to place a 12 inch cast iron skillet in the oven to heat up.
Roll the dough out with a rolling pin into a circle about 15 inches across, making sure the dough stays nice and even. Poke the dough with two forks all over the top part of the dough, using the forks like drumsticks, not poking so hard to make tears in the dough. This ensures that huge bubbles don't occur while baking.
Carefully take the cast iron out of the oven and pour two tbsp of oil in the bottom of the pan, swirl it around to coat the bottom and sides. Carefully place dough in the pan, fork-poked hole side up, stretching it to carefully fit over the bottom of the pan. There should be a nice crust the whole way around the pan.
Bake for 5 minutes on the bottom rack, then remove from oven and top with your favorite pizza toppings. Return to the oven to bake for an additional 20 minutes on the bottom rack. Move to top rack and bake for an additional 10 minutes and finally remove pan from the oven. Let rest for 15 minutes in pan before transferring to cutting board and cutting with a serrated knife.
Have a Slice Day!