Super Simple Pizza Dough Recipes

Steps:

• In a large bowl, combine 2 cups flour, yeast and salt. Add any other spices/herbs that you like.
• Stir in the very warm water and oil. Mix well.
• Add enough of the remaining flour to make a soft dough.
• Knead on a lightly floured surface until smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes. Cover and let rise about 10 minutes.
• Lightly oil one 14" or two 12" round pizza pans. Sprinkle with cornmeal.
• Form dough into smooth ball(s). Roll dough to fit the pan(s).
• Top with your favorite sauce and toppings.
• Bake at 400F for 20 to 30 minutes or until done.

Steps:

• In a small bowl, mix warm water and 1 teaspoon sugar; add yeast and whisk until dissolved. Let stand until bubbles form on surface. In a large bowl, whisk 3 cups flour, salt, remaining 1 teaspoon sugar and, if desired, dried herbs. Make a well in center; add yeast mixture and oil. Stir until smooth. Add enough remaining flour to form a soft dough. , Turn onto a floured surface; knead, adding more flour to surface as needed until no longer sticky and dough is smooth and elastic, 6-8 minutes. Place in a large greased bowl; turn once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place for 30 minutes; transfer bowl to refrigerator and chill overnight. Allow dough to come to room temperature, about 30 minutes, before rolling.

Steps:

• Mix yeast in warm water until dissolved.
• Stir in oil and flour until it forms a dough ball.
• Cover bowl with a kitchen towel, place on top of your stove while the oven is warming up.
• Let rise for 15 minutes.
• Spread on pizza pan, jelly roll pan or baking stone (I've used them all).
• Top with your favorite sauce, meats, veggies, herbs and/or cheeses!

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). In a medium bowl, dissolve yeast and sugar in warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.
• Stir in flour, salt and oil. Beat until smooth. Let rest for 5 minutes.
• Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and pat or roll into a round. Transfer crust to a lightly greased pizza pan or baker's peel dusted with cornmeal. Spread with desired toppings and bake in preheated oven for 15 to 20 minutes, or until golden brown. Let baked pizza cool for 5 minutes before serving.

Steps:

• Mix 1 cup of flour with all other ingredients.
• Gradually add 2nd cup of flour until it forms a ball. Use your hands to form and knead the dough.
• Let the dough rest 10-15 minutes in a bowl covered with a dish towel or saran to keep it warm.
• Spread out onto greased pizza pan and top with your favorite toppings.
• Bake at 375 degrees for approximately 15 minutes. Enjoy!

Steps:

• Stir whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour, yeast, salt, sugar, olive oil, and warm water with a spatula until formed into a sticky ball of dough that pulls away from sides of a large bowl, about 3-4 minutes.
• Cover the bowl with a light cloth or plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place (80 to 95 degrees F (27 to 35 degrees C)) for 18 hours, until doubled in size.
• Preheat the oven to 550 degrees F (280 degrees C). Sprinkle a baking sheet with cornmeal.
• Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and sprinkle with more flour. Form the dough into a rectangle, and cut it into four equal parts. Shape each piece into a ball, stretching and tucking the dough to create a smooth surface, adding more flour if needed. Cover the dough balls with a towel and let rest for 15 minutes.
• To shape the dough, sprinkle the surface with flour and lightly pat flat. Use a rolling pin to form a thin disk about 9 inches in diameter.
• Transfer the formed crust to the prepared baking sheet and top as desired. Bake on the bottom rack for 4 minutes, move to the middle rack and bake for 5-6 minutes more minutes, until the bottom is crispy and the top is lightly browned. Move to cooling rack to cool slightly before serving.

Steps:

• Making and dividing the dough:.
• Dissolve the yeast in the warm water and set aside (a Pyrex 2-cup measure makes for easy pouring; be sure the cup isn't cold). Meanwhile, put the flour and salt in a food processor fitted with the steel blade; process briefly to mix. With the machine running, add the water-yeast mixture in a steady stream. Turn the processor off and add the oil. Pulse a few times to mix in the oil.
• Scrape the soft dough out of the processor and onto a lightly floured surface. With lightly floured hands, quickly knead the dough into a mass, incorporating any bits of flour or dough from the processor bowl that weren't mixed inches Cut the dough into four equal pieces with a knife or a dough scraper. Roll each piece into a tight, smooth ball, kneading to push the air out.
• Rising and storing the dough:.
• What you do next depends on whether you want to make pizza right way or at a later date.
• If you want to bake the pizzas as soon as possible, put the dough balls on a lightly floured surface, cover them with a clean dishtowel, and let them rise until they almost double in size, about 45 minutes. Meanwhile, turn your oven on, with the baking stone in it, to let the stone fully heat.
• Use today:.
• In just 45 minutes, the dough is proofed. These dough balls are ready to be shaped.
• If you want to bake the pizzas tomorrow, line a baking sheet with a floured dishtowel, put the dough balls on it, and cover them with plastic wrap, giving them room to expand (they'll almost double in size), and let them rise in the refrigerator overnight.
• To use dough that has been refrigerated overnight, simply pull it out of the refrigerator about 15 minutes before shaping the dough into a pizza.
• To freeze the dough balls, dust each one generously with flour as soon as you've made it, and put each one in a separate zip-top bag. Freeze for up to a month.
• It's best to transfer frozen dough from the freezer to the refrigerator the night before (or 10 to 12 hours before) you want to use it. But I've found that dough balls pulled straight from the freezer and left to warm up on the counter will be completely defrosted in about 1-1/2 hours. The dough is practically indestructible.
• Shaping your pizza.
• Put the proofed or thawed ball of dough on a lightly floured wooden board. Sprinkle a little more flour on top of the ball. Using your fingertips, press the ball down into a flat cake about 1/2 inch thick.
• Lift the dough and lay it over the back of the fist of one hand. Put your other fist under the dough, right next to your first fist. Now gently stretch the dough by moving your fists away from each other (see Video). Each time you do this stretch, rotate the dough. Continue stretching and rotating until the dough is thin, about 1/4 inch, and measures about 9 inches across. Unless your dough is still cold from the freezer, it will be so soft that its own weight will stretch it out. Alternatively, use a rolling pin to roll out the dough thinly on a floured board. If you like a very thin pizza, roll the dough out to a 10-inch round. Be careful not to make it too thin, and remember that the thinner the pizza, the less topping it can handle.
• Rub a bit of flour onto a wooden pizza peel (or the back of a baking sheet). Gently lift the stretched dough onto the floured peel. Top the pizza, scattering the ingredients around to within 1/2 inch of the border.
• Topping your pizza.
• For some people, pizza isn't pizza without the scarlet of tomatoes peeking through the cheese, but there are many delicious savory combinations that show off fresh seasonal produce. It's better to use winter vegetables like greens or even canned tomatoes when fresh tomatoes are out of season.
• To get you started, here are two of my favorite ways to top a pizza - plus lots of suggestions for combinations to inspire your own designs.
• To make the Angeli Caffé's favorite, Pizza al Caprino - Over the shaped pizza, scatter 10 to 15 cloves roasted or slow-cooked garlic, 5 to 6 oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes (drained and sliced), 3 ounces crumbled goat cheese, a few capers, and a pinch of oregano. Drizzle with extra-virgin olive oil.
• To make a simple flatbread - Scatter sliced garlic (3 to 4 cloves), minced fresh rosemary (from 1 small sprig), and coarse salt over the dough. Make several 1/2-inch slashes to keep the dough from puffing up. Drizzle with lots of extra-virgin olive oil before baking, and garnish with Parmesan. Serve this delicious "Pizza Aglio e Olio" with a salad or cheese.
• To design your own pizza - Use any of these topping combinations to inspire your own creation. A generous drizzle of olive oil is a great addition to just about any pizza.
• Sautéed onions, fresh sage leaves, grated pecorino romano, grated Parmesan.
• Basil pesto, toasted pine nuts, slow-cooked garlic, grated Parmesan.
• Sautéed leeks, chopped artichoke hearts, a bit of crushed tomatoes, grated Parmesan.
• Italian Fontina, Gorgonzola, sun-dried tomatoes.
• Garlic, olives, capers, anchovies, and crushed tomatoes.
• Sliced tomatoes, mozzarella, fresh basil.
• Thinly sliced prosciutto, ricotta, fresh basil, grated Parmesan.
• Cooked Italian sausage, sautéed onions, Italian Fontina, mozzarella.
• Sautéed mushrooms, thinly sliced cooked potatoes, Gorgonzola, crumbled cooked bacon or pancetta.
• Baking your pizza:.
• Put a pizza stone or unglazed terra-cotta tiles on the lowest rack of the oven and heat the oven to 500°F. Ideally, let the stone heat in the oven for an hour.
• Shake the peel (or baking sheet) gently back and forth to make sure the pizza isn't stuck. If it seems stuck, lift the edges up with a spatula and toss a bit of flour under the dough. Quickly slide the pizza onto the hot baking stone. Bake until the edges are golden, about 8 minute Using a peel, a wide spatula, or tongs, remove the pizza from the oven.