Pizza Dough

When we lived in Hawaii our nearest pizza joint was a half hour drive, the second nearest was 45 minutes. Out of necessity I learned to make it myself. I would frequently make it for guests and it's still a family favorite today, particularly the BBQ Chicken variety.

Per Crust:

Mix:

2 ½ - 3 c. all-purpose flour

1 tsp. salt

Develop yeast and then add to flour:

1 c. warm water

1 packet or scant Tbsp. active dry yeast (or instant, your choice)

1 Tbsp. sugar

Add to flour w/yeast:

2 - 4 Tbsp. olive oil

Knead dough adding just enough extra flour to have a tacky, but not sticky dough. (A little bit sticky in feel, but does not stick on your hand.) Oil the dough and let rise until double.

At this point, any of the dough that will not be used right away can be frozen for future use, or par-baked in a 500F degree oven for 6 minutes, wrapped in plastic and then frozen.

OR, at this point, you are ready to assemble your pizza. Work your dough into a crust. Brush with a little olive oil and assemble ingredients in any way you like. Bake in hot oven (500F degrees) for about 10 minutes, on a stone if you like, but on a baking sheet works just as well.

If you have an electric oven you may need to play with the temperature slightly. The oven I currently have I'm going with a temp of 485F.

* Tip - If you use parchment paper it makes clean up a breeze!

**  You can yield approximately 6 pizza crusts from one 5lb bag of flour.

BBQ Chicken Pizza: Shredded Cheese, your favorite BBQ sauce (some to drizzle, some to coat chicken), cooked chopped chicken breast, chopped cilantro and sliced red onion.