I have a couple recipes I use for pizza dough; here is one from Allrecipes.com:
Pizza Dough (makes 2 12-14 inch pizzas)
2-1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
1/2 teaspoon brown sugar
1-1/2 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
3-1/3 cups all-purpose flour
In a large bowl, dissolve the yeast and brown sugar in the water, and let sit for 10 minutes.
Stir the salt and oil into the yeast solution. Mix in 2 1/2 cups of the flour.
Turn dough out onto a clean, well floured surface, and knead in more flour until the dough is no longer sticky.
Place the dough into a well oiled bowl, and cover with a cloth. Let the dough rise until double; this should take about 1 hour. Punch down the dough, and form a tight ball. Allow the dough to relax for a minute before rolling out.
Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (220 degrees C). If you are baking the dough on a pizza stone, you may place your
toppings on the dough, and bake immediately.
If you are baking your pizza in a pan, lightly oil the pan, and let the dough rise for 15 or 20 minutes before topping and baking it.
Bake pizza in preheated oven, until the cheese and crust are golden brown, about 15 to 20 minutes.
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My favorite is from Peter Reinhart, author of American Pie and The Bread Baker's Apprentice. It's a little convoluted, but it makes a great crust. You've probably read in several of my posts that when we want pizza, I usually take a dough ball out of the freezer and put it into the fridge the night before we make pizza. The dough ball is from this recipe; I use this recipe a lot. It also works beautifully for grilled pizza. I've used it for calzones and for stromboli, too. You can also add some herbs to the recipe, if you want.
PIZZA AMERICANA DOUGH (Peter Reinhart)
5 c. (22½ oz.) unbleached high-gluten flour or bread flour
2 tsp. instant yeast
¼ c. olive or vegetable oil
3 Tbsp. sugar or honey
1 c. whole or low-fat milk (I use skim)
3 tsp. table salt OR 3½ tsp. kosher salt
¾ c. room temperature water
With a large metal spoon, stir together all the ingredients in a 4-quart bowl or the bowl of an electric stand mixer until combined. If mixing with an electric mixer, fit it with the dough hook and mix on low speed for about 4 minutes, or until all the flour gathers to form a coarse ball. Let the dough rest for 5 minutes, then mix again on medium-low speed for an additional 3 minutes, or until the dough clears the sides of the bowl and sticks just a little to the bottom. If the dough is too soft and sticky to hold its shape, mix in more flour by the tablespoonful; if it is too stiff or dry, mix in more water by the tablespoon. You want the dough to pass the windowpane test (see below).
(If mixing by hand, repeatedly dip one of your hands or the spoon into room-temperature water and use it much like a dough hook, working the dough vigorously into a coarse ball as you rotate the bowl with your other hand. As all the flour is incorporated into the ball, about 4 minutes, the dough will begin to strengthen; when this occurs, let the dough rest for 5 minutes and then resume mixing an additional 2 to 3 minutes, or until the dough is slightly sticky, soft, and supple. If the dough is too soft and sticky to hold its shape, mix in more flour by the tablespoon; if it is too stiff or dry, mix in more water by the tablespoon. You want the dough to pass the windowpane test.)
Immediately divide the dough into 4 equal pieces. Round each piece into a ball and brush or rub each ball with olive oil or vegetable oil. Place each ball inside its own zippered freezer bag. Let the balls sit at room temperature for 15 minutes, then put them in the refrigerator overnight or freeze any pieces you will not be using the next day. (If you are making the pizzas on the same day, let the dough balls sit at room temperature in the bags for 1 hour, remove them from the bags, punch them down, reshape them into balls, return them to the bags, and refrigerate them for at least 2 hours.)
The next day (or later the same day, if you prefer), remove the balls from the refrigerator 2 hours before you plan to roll them out to take off the chill and to relax the gluten. At this point, you can hold any balls you don't want to use right away in the refrigerator for another day, or you can freeze the balls up to 3 months.
The windowpane test: Use the windowpane test to determine when your dough has been sufficiently mixed. This is done by snipping off a piece of dough from the larger all and gently tugging and turning it, stretching it out until it forms a paper-thin, translucent membrane somewhere near the center. If the dough does not form this membrane or windowpane, it probably needs another minute or two of mixing. Remember to rotate the piece of dough as you tug. Even properly developed dough will rip if you stretch it in only one direction. This windowpane is a signal that the gluten protein has properly bonded in the dough.)
Pizza Dough (makes 2 12-14 inch pizzas)
2-1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
1/2 teaspoon brown sugar
1-1/2 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
3-1/3 cups all-purpose flour
In a large bowl, dissolve the yeast and brown sugar in the water, and let sit for 10 minutes.
Stir the salt and oil into the yeast solution. Mix in 2 1/2 cups of the flour.
Turn dough out onto a clean, well floured surface, and knead in more flour until the dough is no longer sticky.
Place the dough into a well oiled bowl, and cover with a cloth. Let the dough rise until double; this should take about 1 hour. Punch down the dough, and form a tight ball. Allow the dough to relax for a minute before rolling out.
Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (220 degrees C). If you are baking the dough on a pizza stone, you may place your
toppings on the dough, and bake immediately.
If you are baking your pizza in a pan, lightly oil the pan, and let the dough rise for 15 or 20 minutes before topping and baking it.
Bake pizza in preheated oven, until the cheese and crust are golden brown, about 15 to 20 minutes.
________________________________________________________________________
My favorite is from Peter Reinhart, author of American Pie and The Bread Baker's Apprentice. It's a little convoluted, but it makes a great crust. You've probably read in several of my posts that when we want pizza, I usually take a dough ball out of the freezer and put it into the fridge the night before we make pizza. The dough ball is from this recipe; I use this recipe a lot. It also works beautifully for grilled pizza. I've used it for calzones and for stromboli, too. You can also add some herbs to the recipe, if you want.
PIZZA AMERICANA DOUGH (Peter Reinhart)
5 c. (22½ oz.) unbleached high-gluten flour or bread flour
2 tsp. instant yeast
¼ c. olive or vegetable oil
3 Tbsp. sugar or honey
1 c. whole or low-fat milk (I use skim)
3 tsp. table salt OR 3½ tsp. kosher salt
¾ c. room temperature water
With a large metal spoon, stir together all the ingredients in a 4-quart bowl or the bowl of an electric stand mixer until combined. If mixing with an electric mixer, fit it with the dough hook and mix on low speed for about 4 minutes, or until all the flour gathers to form a coarse ball. Let the dough rest for 5 minutes, then mix again on medium-low speed for an additional 3 minutes, or until the dough clears the sides of the bowl and sticks just a little to the bottom. If the dough is too soft and sticky to hold its shape, mix in more flour by the tablespoonful; if it is too stiff or dry, mix in more water by the tablespoon. You want the dough to pass the windowpane test (see below).
(If mixing by hand, repeatedly dip one of your hands or the spoon into room-temperature water and use it much like a dough hook, working the dough vigorously into a coarse ball as you rotate the bowl with your other hand. As all the flour is incorporated into the ball, about 4 minutes, the dough will begin to strengthen; when this occurs, let the dough rest for 5 minutes and then resume mixing an additional 2 to 3 minutes, or until the dough is slightly sticky, soft, and supple. If the dough is too soft and sticky to hold its shape, mix in more flour by the tablespoon; if it is too stiff or dry, mix in more water by the tablespoon. You want the dough to pass the windowpane test.)
Immediately divide the dough into 4 equal pieces. Round each piece into a ball and brush or rub each ball with olive oil or vegetable oil. Place each ball inside its own zippered freezer bag. Let the balls sit at room temperature for 15 minutes, then put them in the refrigerator overnight or freeze any pieces you will not be using the next day. (If you are making the pizzas on the same day, let the dough balls sit at room temperature in the bags for 1 hour, remove them from the bags, punch them down, reshape them into balls, return them to the bags, and refrigerate them for at least 2 hours.)
The next day (or later the same day, if you prefer), remove the balls from the refrigerator 2 hours before you plan to roll them out to take off the chill and to relax the gluten. At this point, you can hold any balls you don't want to use right away in the refrigerator for another day, or you can freeze the balls up to 3 months.
The windowpane test: Use the windowpane test to determine when your dough has been sufficiently mixed. This is done by snipping off a piece of dough from the larger all and gently tugging and turning it, stretching it out until it forms a paper-thin, translucent membrane somewhere near the center. If the dough does not form this membrane or windowpane, it probably needs another minute or two of mixing. Remember to rotate the piece of dough as you tug. Even properly developed dough will rip if you stretch it in only one direction. This windowpane is a signal that the gluten protein has properly bonded in the dough.)
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