How to Make the Best Pizza Crust Recipe
Making pizza at home is a tasty and rewarding experience. Homemade pizza crust can be superior to store bought, since the store variety is frozen, then defrosted. Fresh pizza crust tastes better, with texture a cut above store bought. A homemade pizza also has health benefits, offering you the ability to monitor the quality and quantity of the ingredients. The best pizza crust is the traditional New York hand-tossed variety. It offers a nice, crisp bite, a slightly sweet flavor with a medium-sized crust that doesn't get soggy under the ingredients. Does this Spark an idea?
Things You'll Need
- 3 /4 cup warm water (105°F to 115°F)
- 1 envelope active dry yeast
- Small bowl
- Large bowl
- 1 tsp. olive oil
- 2 1/2 cups (or more) all purpose flour
- 2 tsp. sugar
- 1 tsp. salt
- 3 Tbsp. olive oil
- Tea towel
- Rolling pin
- Pizza pan
Instructions
-
-
1
Pour 3/4 cup of warm water (105°F to 115°F) into a small bowl. Sprinkle 1 package of yeast on top of the water, and let it dissolve. Stir the yeast to mix it with the water well. Let it sit for five minutes.
-
2
Pour 1 tsp of olive oil into a large bowl, and rub it around the inside of the bowl with a brush, or your fingers.
-
-
3
Mix 2 1/2 cups of flour, 1 tsp of sugar, and 1 tsp. of salt in the oiled large bowl. Add the yeast mixture and 3 tablespoons of olive oil to the bowl and mix with a wooden spoon, or with your hands. Mix it until it forms into a ball.
-
4
Cover a counter top with flour to keep the dough from sticking. Place the dough on the floured counter top.
-
5
Knead the dough until it is smooth. This should take one minute. Add a dusting of flour if the dough sticks to your fingers and the counter top.
-
6
Place the dough back into the bowl, pour 1 tsp. olive oil over it and coat the dough with the oil. Cover the bowl with a tea towel. Place the dough bowl on your stove, which is usually the warmest place in the kitchen, and allow the dough to rise for one hour.
-
7
Punch the dough down by placing your hand into it. The air will escape from the dough and it will decrease in size. Place the dough back on the floured counter top.
-
8
Roll the dough out to the size of a pizza pan. Roll from the middle of the dough to the edges, stopping 1 inch from the edge. Turn the dough, and roll again.
-
9
Top with your pizza ingredients, and bake in a 450 degree oven for 15 minutes. If you are baking it without anything on it, the crust will take about 10 minutes.
-
1
Tips & Warnings
To kneed the dough, push down on it with your fists, then fold it, and push down again. Continue punching down and folding to release the air that's trapped inside.
References
Resources
- Photo Credit Ablestock.com/AbleStock.com/Getty Images
