Homemade Pizza (Including the Crust)

If you've been into a grocery store lately, you may have noticed a marked lack of baked goods. That means one thing: this is the perfect opportunity to try your hand at baking from scratch! And what better way to start than with that most forgiving of yeasted breads: pizza dough. This recipe was written by Meilin Tsao, and she'd like to apologize: her pizza was so good that she forgot to take photos until after they'd already eaten half of it. Honestly, we think that's about as big a recommendation as anyone could hope for!

Pizza Dough Ingredients:

• 2 packets of yeast
• 2 Tbsp sugar
• 1/4 c. olive oil
• 2 tsp salt
• 4 1/2 c. whole wheat, all purpose, bread flour or gluten free flour of your choice!

Instructions:

1. Add your 2 packets of yeast (or 3 teaspoons) to 1 1/2 cups of warm water -- let sit until it gets frothy and bubbles form on top (5-10 minutes)
2. Whisk in the 2 Tbsp of sugar, 1/4 cup of olive oil, 2 tsp of salt, and 4 1/2 cups of flour of your choice. 
3. Stir until dough is slightly sticky and knead together. If the dough gets too sticky or is getting stuck to your fingers, add more flour.
4. Oil a metal bowl dump your dough in. Cover with a damp cheese cloth or plastic wrap and let it sit in a warm, draft-free space for at least one hour to let dough rise. (You're looking for it to rise roughly 1.5x to double in size) I usually preheat oven for about 2-5 minutes and then turn it off and stick the dough in for the warmth and lack of draft. You can also turn the oven light on and stick the dough in, or use a proving drawer if your oven has one.
5. When you're ready to make pizza, take the dough out and, on a floured surface, knead and roll out your dough.
6. Preheat oven to 500 and stick pizza stone or other flat pan in the oven. 
7. Add olive oil and garlic, white sauce, or red sauce, and all other toppings of choice.
8. Put in all in the oven for 10-15 minutes.
9. Enjoy!