Image by robertstinnett via Flickr

I don’t know about you but I love pizza. 

Especially homemade pizza, there is nothing better.  And I really like a good crust.  I like all the styles, thin, crispy, thick, chewy…

It’s not very hard to make a good crust.  The recipe I use I’ve used for years.  It’s very simple, although you do have to plan ahead.  And it makes delicious crust.

Ingredients

• 2 1/4 cups flour, always sift your flour
• 1 packet Instant yeast
• 1/3 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup warm water.
• Olive Oil

Method

1. Put your flour in your mixing bowl and turn on your mixer.  Use a bread hook attachment if you have one.
2. Sprinkle the yeast over the flour as it mixes.
3. Sprinkle the salt over the mixture as it mixes.
4. Now begin to slowly add the warm water.  Keep adding water until the entire ball of dough clings to the bread hook.  It takes about 1 cup, more or less.  If the dough is really sticky and doesn’t hold together you have used too much water and will need to add a little more flour.
5. Take and bowl and oil the inside of it with the olive oil.
6. Place the dough ball in the bowl and cover with a hand towel.  Set somewhere lukewarm for about an hour.
7. After an hour the dough ball will have either tripled or quadrupled in size.  This makes for a wonderfully yeasty crust.  It is at this point that I grease my pan, I like using solid Crisco for this, but you can use whatever you want, or nothing if you have a very non-stick pan.  Spread the dough out and top.  Bake and serve.
8. If you like your crust a little more chewy, after an hour, uncover the dough and smash in down in the center with your fist.  Now recover and let rise again.  Use.
9. If you like a really flat New York style crust, after the second rising, take the dough and with your hands knead it thoroughly, then roll it out with a rolling pin.  Then use.
10. Simple…tasty…and best of all inexpensive.