Pizza Crust

This crust is so good....it was really hard not to pig out on the pizza. It is incredibly easy and pretty much foolproof. Once I tried to use bread flour in pizza crust--not a good idea, actually a horrible one. It made the crust tough because there was too much protein in the flour. I found a little tip about making pizza crust in a regular oven and having it turn out light and crisp. Use cake flour. I didn't have any so I improvised. You level out a cup of all purpose flour and then take out two tablespoons. Then you replace the two tablespoons with two tablespoons of corn starch. You do this for every cup of flour you use. Then you sift it a few times. It's not as good as the real thing, but worked for the pizza dough. A bothersome extra step, but hey, I was experimenting. Otherwise just use all purpose flour and it is still really good.

Pizza Crust

3/4 c warm water

1 envelope dry active yeast (2 1/2 tsp)

2 c all purpose flour

1 tsp sugar

3/4 tsp salt

3 Tbls olive oil

Let the yeast proof in the warm water for 5 min until foamy. Add the oil, flour, sugar, salt, and most of the flour. Mix together with a wooden spoon. Turn out onto a lightly flour surface and knead in the rest of the flour by hand. Place in a oiled bowl turning once to coat. Cover with a clean dishtowel and let it rise for 1 hour, until doubled. Punch down dough and let it rest for 10 min. Roll out to desired thickness and place on a cookie sheet sprinkled with corn meal. Add toppings of your choice.

Note: I divided the dough and made two thin crust pizzas.

Bake in a preheated 425F-450F oven for about 15-20 min. Until crust is golden and cheese is bubbling.