Pizza Crust

I wish I could remember where I found this recipe for pizza crust! It turned up on a google search, and was from one of the millions of recipe websites... The reason I tried it was because it only called for a 10 minute "rest", as opposed to an hour or so for rising. It could be that a crust that has spent the time rising would be more flavorful, but I have no complaints about this one. I have made it twice - the first time I didn't roll it thin enough, and it made a very bready thick crust (which would be great if that is how you like your pizza; see photo below.) I prefer a thin crust, with crunchy edges, and I got a lot closer to that the second time (see photo above). I'm not sure if this is relevant or not, but I used active dry yeast in the breadier crust, instant in the thinner crust (which also seemed to have bigger bubbles throughout - also a plus in my book.)

Pizza Dough

- 1 cup warm water
- 3 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 packet of yeast (instant, or active dry - see instructions)
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 Tbsp sugar

If using instant yeast: Mix flour, sugar, salt and yeast in a large bowl. Add warm water and olive oil and stir until dough comes together.

If using active dry yeast: Mix flour and salt in a large bowl. In a smaller bowl, stir together warm water, sugar and yeast until dissovled. Pour into flour, add olive oil, and stir until dough comes together.

Knead until dough is smooth, adding just enough flour so that dough doesn't stick to hands (dough will still be sticky.) Allow dough to rest for 10 minutes. Preheat the oven and cookie sheet to 500 degrees, and then roll out the dough on parchment paper. Load up the pizza, then slide it onto the hot cookie sheet. Turn down the oven to 425 degrees, and bake it until it looks done.