REALY EASY PIZZA DOUGH... REALLY :)

Nobody loves the thought of making Pizza Dough from scratch. We think of it like making bread......all of that mixing and kneading, rising and kneading. Well, I have found a really easy pizza dough recipe. There is about 10 minutes of active time with NO KNEADING and 1 hour rise time. This recipe makes 2 large pizza crusts. I always make the recipe as is and use one right away and partly bake the second one and tuck it in the freezer for later. You could half the recipe if you only want one crust. Not only does this make a great thin crust pizza dough, it is also good to brush with olive oil, garlic, basil and cheese to make great bread sticks so it is great to have an extra in the freezer.

3 cups plus 3 tablespoons flour
2 teaspoons instant yeast
1 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons salt
1 2/3 cups room temperature water (70-90 degrees)
1/2 cup olive oil

Place flour, yeast and sugar in a bowl and mix to combine. Then whisk in salt (when salt comes in direct contact with yeast, it will kill it so be sure to mix the yeats in good first). make a well in the center of the flour mixture and pour in water. Stir with rubber spatula or hands until flour is moistened and dogh begins to form. It will still be a little sticky but pull away from the bowl a little. You may need to add a little more water to get this consistancy. The dough will be a little rough looking NOT silky smooth. Don't overmix or the dough will become too sticky.

Pour oil into large bowl and roughly forma ball with the dough. Place the dough in the oil and then flip it so that all sides are covered with oil. It will look like you have way too much oil in the bowl but don't worry, the oil is what helps when you begin to spread it out and it makes the crust nice and crispy on the outside.

Cover with foil and set in a warm place for 1 hour or until doubled.

Lightly press dough down and split into two peices, one for each pizza. get oil all over all sides and then press it out on a baking stone (or sheet). press and spread it out to the size of a large pizza. If you have the time, cover with plastic wrap and let it sit for 30 minutes. If you are in a hurry it is ok to bake right away. Pop it in the oven for about 5-10 minutes, just until it begins to puff and starts to bake. Remove from oven, brush on your favorite sauce, toppings and cheese and return to the oven until edges brown and cheese is melted.

If you want to make this ahead, after covering the bowl with foil, let it sit for 30 minutes then pop it in the refrigerator until you are ready for it, up to 24 hours. Remove it from the refrigerator 1 hour before spreading and baking. Then proceed as outlined above.