Basic Pizza Dough

By weavincanuck

Ingredients

• Sponge:
• 1 pkg (2 1/2 teaspoons) active dry yeast
• 1 cup warm water (105 *F to 115*F)
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 tbsp flour
• Dough:
• 1 sponge (recipe above)
• 4 1/2 cups flour
• 1 cup warm water
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp salt

Preparation

Step 1

1. In a large bowl combine all sponge ingredients. Whisk well. Cover with a cloth and let sit 15 minutes. Mixture should look foamy. (If it does not look foamy, start over. Water that is too cool will not activate the yeast; water that is too hot will kill it. If the temperature is correct and the mixture does not foam you may need new yeast.)

2. To make the dough, sift 4 cups of flour into the sponge mixture. Add water, oil and salt. Mix well either by hand or in a food mixer or food processor. The dough should be sticky, so flour your hands. Remove and knead with both hands for 5 to 6 minutes. Add more water or flour by the teaspoon until you have an elastic ball of dough.

3. Divide the dough into 4 quarters and shape into rounded disks. Lightly flour a cookie sheet and place the disks on the sheet. Cover with a towel and let rise 2 hours in a consistently warm environment. With flour-covered hands re-knead dough and shape each ball to a flat disk, roughly 1/4 inch thick. Use a rolling pin, but be gentle and don't press hard on the dough. You can press out with your fingers on a cookie sheet that has been sprayed with nonfat cooking spray, or use a tablespoon of cornmeal distributed evenly on the cookie sheet. Lay the dough on the cornmeal. This will help prevent sticking.

Makes four 8-10" crusts that can be topped with the toppings of your choice.