Basic Pizza Dough

By danaheller

Ingredients

• 1 cup warm water
• 1 packet (1/4 oz) active dry yeast
• generous pinch of sugar
• 1 tbs best-quality olive oil
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose or bread flour
• 1 1/2 tsp kosher salt

Details

Servings 2

Preparation

Step 1

1. In a large bowl, combine water, yeast and sugar, and set aside for 5 minutes until it begins to foam. (If it doesn't, discard and start over with new yeast.) Stir in the olive oil and 1 cup of flour and mix until incorporated. Then add the salt and the second cup of flour, stirring with a spoon or spatula.

2. Turn out the dough onto a floured board or, if your bowl is large and shallow enough, just knead it in the bowl. Knead the dough, incorporating the rest of the flour as needed, until its smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes.

3. Put the dough into a clean, well-oiled bowl, turning to lightly coat the top of the dough with oil. Cover with plastic wrap and put in the refrigerator overnight.

4. The next day, about 1 1/2 hours before you want your pizza, take the dough out of the refrigerator, punch it down and divide it into two balls. Lightly coat the dough with olive oil, cover with plastic and let it rest on the counter for an hour.

5. After an hour, using your fingers, spread each ball of dough into a 10-inch disc on a piece of parchment paper. The edges should be 1/2 inch thick, and the centers should be about 1/4 inch thick. Assemble your pizzas.