Pizza is some of the most satisfying foodstuff you can make. Making it yourself guarantees you a pizza SOOO much better than anything you can pick up at your local pizza parlor. And there are endless combinations of toppings you can use. Mostly we go for the basic tomato sauce, and parmesan / mozzarella cheese pizza, adding mushrooms, onion or even salami to taste, but our favorites often include such toppings as a variety of cheeses (hard and soft), red onion, red potatoes, roasted peppers and so forth.

Beneath your toppings you need a good reliable pizza dough. This recipe is it. You can alter the flour mixture to include whole meal, rye, oats or whatever, but get the basic dough to work for you first.

Based on the recipe in James Beard's Menus for Entertaining

Basic Pizza Dough

1 cake or package of yeast (I use 1 Tablespoon Fermipan yeast - a good fast-acting, vacuum-dessicated yeast)
1 cup lukewarm water (can be hot but not scalding!)
1 teaspoon sugar (I use half this amount)
2 teaspoons salt (again, I use about half)
3 Tablespoons olive oil (I use 2 T maximum)
3 1/2 to 4 cups all-purpose flour (will vary wildly depending on the weather, etc.)

Most recipes containing yeast call for the wet ingredients to be combined and the dry ingredients added. With a dry yeast like this, I start with the dry ingredients.

Put the sugar, salt, yeast and one cup of the flour in a large mixing bowl. If you're using just white flour, add a little gluten flour if you can - it will aid the dough's elasticity. Add the wet ingredients and mix to a batter. Add flour half a cup at a time until mixing becomes difficult. With me, that's quite early on - I add a lot of flour while kneading.

Turn the mixture out onto a floured work surface and begin to knead it, adding more flour as required. To knead you fold the dough and press with the heel of your hands repeatedly. I have never over kneaded a bread dough, so I say you should not be afraid to continue kneading a dough. When your dough is ready it should be smooth and satiny and almost not sticky at all. Be wary of adding too much flour and making the dough too dry - better for it to be a little too sticky. Make the dough into a ball and test it - jab it with your finger. If the indentation immediately begins to spring back, you're done.

Place the ball in a clean bowl wiped in about a tablespoon of olive oil and cover the bowl with glad wrap. Let the dough rise until it's double in size. This may be up to an hour, but I find it's often much less.

Knead the dough a bit to remove air bubbles and roll it out into your designated pizza tray. We just use oiled oven trays and make rectangular pizza for the most part - doesn't make a difference to the taste! Top with whatever you like. Bake in a hot oven - 400F or 200C - for about 25 minutes or until crust and cheese is browning nicely.

See also:
Broccoli and Cottage Cheese Pizza
New Potato and Grilled Pepper Pizza
Bill's Basil Pizza