Dough:
I use a breadmaker set to dough cycle, but you can use a mixer, food processor or, if you need a bit of exercise, mix and knead your dough by hand.

1/2 tsp    yeast
1/4 tsp    sugar
1 2/3 C   bread flour
2/3 C      water
1/3 tsp    salt
2 T          olive oil (make them scant tablespoons)

Note: Try substituting 2T of cornmeal for 2T of the bread flour. I like the texture this gives, but you may not.

Process the dough however you please till it's smooth and silky and then let it sit about 2 hours. If you're using a breadmaker it will do the job for you. If using any other method, you can make a nice rising box by heating 2 C of water to boiling in a microwave oven, then put the dough in the oven next to the hot cup of water, close the door and just let it sit. The heatfrom the water along with the moisture it gives off creates a great environment for raising the dough. I've used all four methods of making dough and the breadmaker gives the most consistent results and is the easiest way to do it.

You can make the dough several hours ahead of time and punch it down everytime it starts getting out of control. Or you can make it a day ahead of time and keep it refrigerated. 

A few notes on baking pizza:
The ONLY way to bake pizza is directly on a pizza stone. Baking it on a cookie sheet or on a screen won't give you good results. Having said that, you need to get a pizza stone and, while you're getting that, pick up a pizza peel. I use a wooden one I've had for years that will easily handle a 16" pizza, which is what we're going to make. A peel is a paddle that you use to transfer the pizza to and from the oven. It takes very little practice to learn to use it, and you'll feel great when the pizza scoots off the peel and lands right where you intended it to.

About 45 minutes before you're going to bake your pizza, put your pizza stone on a rack in the center of the oven and set your oven to bake with as high a temperature as you can get. The highest setting on my oven is 550°F.

Assembling the pizza:
Sprinkle a handful of cornmeal across the surface of the peel. These grains of corn will act like little ball bearings and allow your pizza to slide around the peel and ultimately into the oven. Shape your dough into a ball then flatten it into about a 7" disk about 2" high. Roll it out on a flat surface with a rolling pin into a 17" disk. You want to shape it by hand? Go ahead. It's not easy and you'll find parts of the crust get really thin and parts are thick. I've done it, and you'll get a lot better, more uniform crust with a rolling pin. As you roll it, the dough wants to bounce back. Periodically let it rest a minute of two and you'll find you can roll it much easier. Your goal is to create a crust about 17" across because, as you handle it, it will shrink back to 16", which is where we want it to ultimately be. When your crust is the right size and shape, pull it up and move it to the peel. If it's a little large you can push around the edges and it will get smaller. Now shake the peel gently to make sure the pizza is free to slide on the cornmeal. Every time you add an ingredient to the pizza it's a good idea to shake it free again. You don't want to come to the end with a fully loaded pizza only to discover it's stuck somewhere and you're shaking your toppings all over the countertop trying to free it up.

It's a good idea at this point to liberally brush your crust with olive oil. It keeps the liquid from the topping from seeping into the crust and making it soggy. Another tip is to use a fork to poke little holes all over the crust to keep big air bubbles from forming when the crust hits the hot oven.

Now it's time to add your topping. The easiest pizza to make is tomato and cheese. I avoid tomato sauce and use either chopped canned tomatoes (a big can) or, in the summer, freshly sliced tomatoes from the garden. If you use canned, make sure they are WELL drained. Remember that anything with liquid in it will make the crust soggy. Start off with about 2 Cups of grated Mozzarella, then add the tomatoes. Then get creative--fried bits of sausage, slices of pepperoni, thinly sliced onions, mushrooms, smoked oysters, chili peppers, the much-maligned anchovies, chicken, green peppers roasted garlic. The owner of a pizza restaurant once told me that you can do anything with a pizza that you can do in a sauté pan. Keep that in mind as you choose your toppings. Remember that delicate greens like fresh basil, green onion, cilantro, etc. are best added after the pizza is cooked as they won't hold up well in the oven.

Just before you put your pizza in the oven, reset the temperature to about 375°. The stone is good and hot, which is what you want, but now the ambient temperature of the oven will begin to drop just as it does in a wood-fired oven. Check your peel to be sure your pizza still moves, (lottsa luck if it doesn't) and, shaking it gently, place the far edge of the peel at the back of the stone and angle the peel upward just slightly. The pizza should begin to move and, with very little effort, you should be able to slide it right onto the center of the stone.

After about six minutes you'll want to peek at your pizza for the first time. If you have a smoke alarm in the kitchen, get ready to have it go off. Though the crust will still be quite pale, it will have set up enough that you can slip the peel under it and remove it from the oven. Rotate the pizza front to back and slip it back in for about another two minutes. Repeat this process three or four times till the crust is the color you want. Then remove the pizza from the oven, add any additional toppings, slice and enjoy.

One final thing. Be sure and write and let me know how it came out.