Growing up, we rarely, if ever, ordered delivery pizza. Chalk it up to a father who liked a culinary challenge, we ate homemade pizza that was always satisfying.
Here's his recipe that is hard to screw up, but I'll be honest, I just learned how to cook rice, so maybe we're not always as great in the kitchen as we think.
This recipe will serve two adults, for a bigger pizza, you can just double it.
Pizza Dough
1/2 C warm water
1.25 tsp dry active yeast
1.5 C flour, divided
3/4 tsp salt
1/4-1/3 C milk
1 T olive oil
The morning of, combine the yeast and water in a large bowl, allow to proof for a few minutes, then cover with half of your flour.
Cover your bowl and place in a warm, draft-free place. You will notice after an hour or two the yeast will start to "eat" the flour and bubble and rise.
An hour before cooking time, add the rest of the flour, salt and olive oil to the yeast mixture. Either by hand, or in a Kitchenaid/Bosch fixed with a dough hook, bring the dough together adding the milk a little at a time until dough comes together and is very sticky.
Remove the dough to a large prep surface and form into a ball, sprinkling flour when needed. Place the dough in a greased bowl, cover, and allow to rise slightly for 1/2 hour.
Preheat your oven to 500
Remove the dough to your prep surface and press it out into a rough circle [or a rectangle, whatever you prefer] about 1.5" thick.
Where you go from here is completely up to your taste. I've cooked my pizzas on baking stones, on lined cookie sheets, and in cast iron skillets, but you can plan on your pizza dough being cooked in about 15-20 minutes.
Good luck! And, as always, enjoy!
