Basic Pizza Dough

Basic Pizza Dough, adapted from A Year in a Vegetarian Kitchen

Ingredients:

1/2 cup warm water (105-110F – use a thermometer for best results)
1 envelope active dry yeast
4 cups unbleached AP flour or use a combo of whole wheat and AP
1 tablespoon salt
3/4-1 cup cold water
1 tablespoon olive oil

To Do:

1. Place warm water in a 2 cup measuring cup, add yeast and stir to combine.  Let it sit for 5 minutes while you whir the flour and salt together in a food processor or stand mixer fitted with a dough hook.  Alternatively, you could do this all by hand – it will just take more time.
2. Add the cold water to the measuring cup once the yeast has bloomed.  Only add about 3/4 a cup at first, if you need to, you can add more later.  Also add the olive oil to the measuring cup and stir it all up.
3. With the food processor/stand mixer going, add the liquid mixture to the dough.  Process until the dough forms a smooth ball.  If you need more water, add more water; if you need more flour, add more flour.  The dough shouldn’t be too sticky or too try.  When you poke it, the dough should spring back a bit.
4. Put a little olive oil in a large bowl and plop your ball of dough in it.  Shake the bowl around until the dough is coated in the oil (you really only need a tiny bit).  Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap or a towel and let rise until doubled.  Jack Bishop says 2 hours, but you can get away with one.
5. You can either take the dough, divide it into 2 pieces (medium pies) or 4 (small pies) and start making pizza!  Or, you can divide the dough, wrap it tightly in plastic wrap and then into an air-tight container or plastic bag and keep it in the freezer until you want to use it.  The day you want to make pizza, take the dough out of the freezer and let it thaw at room temperature in a covered bowl for about 4 hours or put it in the fridge to thaw throughout the day.  Just make sure that when you use finally use it, the dough is at room temperature.  If you’re going to use the dough in a couple of days, just keep it wrapped tightly in the fridge and bring to room temperature before using.