Delicious Easy Pizza Dough

Directions

• Add the sugar and yeast to the warm water (NOT hot), stir and leave for 5 or 10 minutes. This will give you chance to make sure the yeast is working and you should see bubbles start to appear on the surface of the water. If not, you may need to renew the yeast.
• Sieve the flour into a large bowl and add the salt.
• Make a small well in the middle and add the oil and water to the flour and salt. Mix together with your fingers to combine. You may find this is quite a wet dough initially, but it’s better to add more flour than water (and as you’re kneeding etc. you’ll be adding more flour anyway)
• Tip the combined mixture onto a well oiled or floured surface and kneed for around 10 minutes, adding more flour if you need to until you have a beautiful smooth dough.
• Shape into a ball, then place into an oiled bowl, cover with a damp tea towel and leave for around an hour to prove (somewhere warm but not hot). You can also cover with cling film, but oil the top of the dough if you do this.
• Once proved, knock back the dough slightly, and then divide into 3 or 4 (depending on the size of the pizza you want to make and your crust preference).
• At this stage, you can shape into balls once more and leave to prove once again if you wish, by placing on a tray and covering with a damp tea towel but this step is not essential – it can just yield a slightly more fluffy pizza dough.
• The best way to shape is with your fingers, by making your outer crust first and then stretching the middle until you have the size or thickness you want. Alternatively you can use a rolling pin.
• Pre-heat your oven to it’s hottest temperature, and if you have one put your pizza stone in the oven while you do this (do NOT put it in when hot as it can crack – it needs to heat gently with the warming of the oven). If you don’t have a pizza stone, you can use a heavy based baking tray or pan as long as the surface is flat, so turn it upside down if you need to.
• If you’re using a peel, add semolina flour or normal flour to the peel (so it slides off easier) and place your streched out dough on top. Top your pizza with whatever you like, and then slide it onto your stone / baking tray and bake for around 8 – 10 minutes or until your topping is cooked and you have a nice crispy base and sides.
• Enjoy!!