My Favorite Italian Pizza

This is one of my favorite recipes. It's a pretty basic pizza that you can dress up with whichever toppings you want to use. Make it as complicated or as simple as you desire.

• Ready In: 2 hrs 30 mins
• Yields: 1 large pizza

Ingredients

•  olive oil, for drizzling
•  semolina or  cornmeal, for dusting

• DOUGH

• 1 3⁄4 cups warm water
• 2  tablespoons instant yeast
• 1⁄3 cup olive oil
• 2 1⁄2 teaspoons salt
• 2  tablespoons sugar
• 3  cups all-purpose flour
• 1 -2  cup bread flour

• TOPPING

• 1 (28 ounce) can plum tomatoes, drained
• 2⁄3 cup  your favorite  pizza sauce
•  fresh ground black pepper
• 1  teaspoon salt, to taste
• 1⁄2 teaspoon sugar
• 1⁄4 cup olive oil
• 1  garlic clove, crushed
• 2  tablespoons  minced fresh basil (or a combination I also like to use a bit of crushed anise seed) or 2  tablespoons oregano (or a combination I also like to use a bit of crushed anise seed) or 2  tablespoons flat leaf parsley (or a combination I also like to use a bit of crushed anise seed) or 1  tablespoon dried herbs (or a combination I also like to use a bit of crushed anise seed)
• 4 -5  cups  shredded mozzarella cheese
•  thinly sliced  pepperoni, to taste

Directions

1. Drizzle a baking sheet with olive oil and then dust lightly with semolina or cornmeal.
2. Set aside.
3. For the dough, hand whisk the water and yeast together in the bowl of an electric mixer.
4. Let stand for 3 minutes for the yeast to dissolve.
5. Stir in the oil, salt, sugar, all purpose flour and 1 cup of the bread flour.
6. Mix to make a soft dough.
7. Knead on the lowest speed of the mixer with a dough hook for 8 minutes, adding more flour gradually until a soft elastic dough is formed.
8. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface.
9. Loosely cover in a plastic bag and let rise for 30 to 45 minutes until almost doubled.
10. For the topping, put the tomatoes in a large bowl, crushing with a fork to break them up.
11. Add the sauce, pepper, salt, sugar, oil, garlic and herbs, mixing well.
12. turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface.
13. Let rest for a few minutes.
14. Press or roll the dough out to fit the prepared baking sheet.
15. Drizzle a bit of olive oil on top of the dough.
16. Spread on the tomato topping and top with the cheese and pepperoni. (I like to add black olives, hot peppers and sliced mushrooms).
17. Let dough rise until quite puffy, about 30-45 minutes.
18. Preheat oven to 425*F.
19. Bake the pizza for 15 minutes.
20. Lower the heat to 375*F and bake for a further 15 to 20 minutes until cheese is melted and lightly browned.