recipe-pizza dough-VERY VERY VERY simple

becuase of the holyland cross flyin' across the country like dorothy o' kansas dominos pizza posting on this very blog and the blog of the lovely and talented rex kramer, danger seeker over to the spurious george blog i am going to tell ALL of you how to make pizza dough so you don't have to eat the fast food shite out there and as a bonus i'll include a little secret as well. plus it's a GOOD family project

3 c flour-i like to use UNBLEACHED WHITE (if you use whole wheat, make sure you use at least one c of white flour too and you may need a tad more water)
1 c water
1/2 t salt
2 T olive oil plus more for oiling your pizza pan
1 t sugar or honey or maple syrup or sweetner of your choice (may be omitted but it does help the yeast proof)
1 to 2 T yeast (or 1 pack of yeast. NOT nutritional yeast by the way)

to 1/2 cup of the WARM water (it can't be boiling or the yeast will die and it can't be too cold or the yeast won't grow) add the yeast and the sweetner. after about five minutes stir in 1 or 2 T of the flour

meanwhile toss flour into a large bowl along with the salt (if you want to add herbs like rosemary or dill or whatever you like you may do so now. it does end up tasting SO GOOD)

after the yeast/flour mixture has grown toss that into your flour bowl along with the other 1/2 c of water. add the oil. mix with your HANDS until it forms a ball. on floured surface slap that dough around for awhile (at the VERY least three minutes). clean the mixing bowl (doesn't have to be thorough. just use a paper towel). rub a bit more olive oil in the bowl and place dough in it. cover with a damp towel or plastic wrap and put aside in a warmish place for about an hour. after an hour punch down and form into the pizza pie shape of your choice. it CAN be a rectangle you know it doesn't have to be square (if you don't have a pizza stone, OIL the pan you're using for the dough). i let mine rise again for about 1/2 hour before topping it, but you don't have to. you can top it and let it rise OR you can top it and bake it right away. this dough will make one large pizza or two smaller ones.

SECRET: if you make a bigger batch, you can separate the dough into single pizza servings toss in an oiled plastic bag and freeze it for use later. let defrost in the oiled bag then shape and either let rise and top or just top it after you shape it.

you can bake it at 400 or 450 for anywhere between 8 minutes and 15 depending upon the thickness of your dough, your oven, your toppings. it's up to YOU to make sure it doesn't burn.

oh and this basic recipe makes a damn good loaf of bread too.

be creative.