Pizza Dough prep

For those of you purists out there... I am lazy but want to make my own pizza. I use bread flour purchased from my local store... seems to make a good crust for me! I will be experimenting with various recipes adding a more specialized gluten mix for a more authentic pizza crust... usinbg flours such as the Italian Tipo 00 and the such... but for now this works!

I use a simple dough formula... and add them to the breadmaker in this order:

1Tbs olive oil

1 C warm water

2 1/2 c flour

1tsp salt (or heaping garlic salt)

1 tbs sugar

1 tsp active dry yeast

Note: you will see quite a variance in dough recipes... this one has a higher ratio of water to flour because we are in New Mexico at an altitude of about 7,000 feet. I need a little more water up here.

Ingredients all in, breadmaker set on the "dough" setting, and breadmaker just starting to mix...

90 minutes later, we are done

I usually divide this in half, then you can hand toss or roll your dough:


Take your wood or metal peel and flour it well,

then place the dough on the peel and re-shape it to your liking.

Spread a light coating of Olive Oil on your dough... go to the edges but DON'T get any on the peel! The dough will stick to it and you won't be able to slide it off into your oven!

"Oiled" dough. Some people LOVE to take garlic (minced) and rub it into the oil before the sauce. You can also use a garlic infused oil as well. If I want a spicier pizza I'll use the oil from sauteed garlic and jalepenos which is a fantastic topping for the Pesto Pizza recipe...

Note:It is a good idea as you work to give the peel a back and forth shake to make sure the dough is continuing to slide... if not you may have to lift a side and throw a bit of flour under it till is is sliding easily.

Cornmeal is also a good choice for keeping the dough moving... layer your peel with it instead of flour if you like. Just know that it will leave the meal grains on your Pizza stone that you have to clean off later. I have used both methods and they both work well...

Now your dough is ready for the next step...