Amy’s Pizza Crust
1 1/2 cups water, about 110 degrees F
1 teaspoon active dry yeast
4 cups bread flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons olive oil
Pour a couple tablespoons of the warm water into a large bowl. Add yeast to moisten. After a few minutes, add flour, salt, remaining water and oil in that order. Mix with a wooden spoon for a minute. The dough should be shaggy with all the flour moistened. If you have more than a tablespoon of dry flour, add more warm water and mix until all the flour is incorporated into the ball of dough. It can still have spots that are sticky and clumps that are drier, as long as it forms a ball in the middle of the bowl.
Flour your work area and dump your dough out. Knead it until it is springy and smooth. Put in an oiled bowl to rise for 30-45 minutes. Divide in half. (This will make enough for two cookie sheet sized pizzas. If you want smaller pizzas, divide your dough into smaller portions. You can freeze what you don’t use for another time.) Knead each ball of dough again. You can knead on oil instead of flour to keep too much flour from being incorporated. Be careful not to knead too vigorously or pull dough too tightly. You don’t want the developed gluten to tear. Keep the integrity of the smooth surface of the dough intact. Put each ball of dough in its own oiled bowl and cover with an oiled plate. Let rise for two or three hours at room temperature, or longer (even overnight) in the fridge. If you let them rise in the fridge, take your dough out of the fridge and hour or so before you use it to let it warm to room temperature.
Oil two cookie sheets and lightly sprinkle them with cornmeal or semolina flour. Put them in the oven. Preheat your oven to 450 degrees. Lightly flour your work space and gently turn a ball of dough onto the flour. Carefully stretch your dough and/ or roll with a rolling pin to almost the size of your pan. Try to leave bubbles, especially in the edges of the dough, i.e., use a rolling pin only in the center. Even if the oven is not fully preheated, take one of your pans out and put the dough on the pan. For a cookies sheet sized pizza, you need about 3/4 cup sauce. Top your pizza and return it to the oven. Roll out your second ball of dough, take your second pan out, put your dough on the hot pan and top it with sauce, cheese, etc. Return it to the oven. After 5 or 10 minutes, rotate the pans. Bake until the bottom of the crusts brown and the cheese is as toasty as you like.