Pizza Dough

I've modified the basic dough recipe to figure the right chewiness for our tastes... I'm known for my pizza's in the neighborhood... OK - In Chicago - I used the recipe perfectly like this. In San Diego - husband said dough was too wet and didn't come off the sneak easy enough. Reduced water by 2 TBL and he likes it better.

• Ready In: 32 mins
• Yields: 2 pizza doughs

Ingredients

• 2 3⁄4 cups flour (AP)
• 1⁄2 cup  durum flour
• 1 1⁄4 teaspoons salt
• 2  tablespoons olive oil
• 1 1⁄4 cups warm water
• 2  teaspoons  yeast

Directions

1. Mix in a bread maker on the dough setting.
2. This recipe makes 2 pizza doughs. Sometimes I mix in herbs into the pizza dough (basil / oregano - maybe 1 tsp each).
3. Once the dough is complete - put about a TBL EVOO into a gallon zip-lock and then work the bag to get the oil all over the bag. Dump dough into the bag.
4. For best results - I make the dough the day before, let it sit and ferment on the counter for a day. (you'll have to open the zip loc occasionally and let the gas out - or I suspect it would burst) Put the dough into the fridge overnight and then take it out the next day. Let the dough get to be room temp before cutting it in half and working with one dough. The durum will give the dough a bit of elasticity -- so be patient when working it. If it fights you in stretching - let it rest for 5 - 10 min and then come back and stretch more.
5. Once you've got the pizza stretched, put it on a pizza sneak / paddle that has cornmeal (or semolina flour) on the top. (that works as teeny marbles to get the pizza off the sneak) Build the pizza (add toppings) while dough is on the sneak / paddle.
6. We cook our pizzas on a pizza stone - on the grill (450 - 500 degrees). Leave the stone on the grill to get that hot. Make sure the stone has time to get really hot.
7. Then sneak/ slide the pizza onto the stone - and leave for about 8 - 12 minutes depending what toppings you have and how many -- Check the crust using a spatula to see if it starts to get too done.
8. Generally we build the pizzas by putting olive oil onto the dough, then adding fresh tomatoes (no sauce!) and then salt the tomatoes. Then add low fat mozzarella (save some calories - no one EVER notices) and then pre-cooked italian sausage (save more calories) and fresh peppers etc --.
9. I also sometimes start with a couple of pounds of caramelized onions and Evoo - as the base and then the tomatoes --.
10. Sometimes we do roasted garlic on the base. But we found roasted garlic can be hard to spread, so it works better if you put a head of roasted garlic into a half to 3/4 C of Marscapone cheese (there goes the calorie count) --.
11. You can google for gourmet pizza recipes - but this is a good base to get you started!
12. Enjoy!