Pizza

I copied a lot of recipes for pizza dough from the net & tried different ones. They are all pretty much the same, but this is the one we like & use a lot. It was actually a recipe for the bread machine, so you could make it in that if you'd like. I just do mine by hand, it's not that much harder (just a few minutes of kneeding...which I like to do to relieve some stress...lol) .

Basic Pizza Dough
(for bread machines, this is a 1 1/2 pound recipe)

1 cup warm water
2 t. yeast
2 T. olive oil
3/4 t. salt
3 cups bread flour (I think all purpose is fine for pizza dough
1 T. cornmeal ( I've never used this)

If you use a bread machine, add ingredients as suggested by the manufacturer. If by hand:
Add yeast to warm water & set aside. In large bowl add flour & salt. Make a little well in the middle & when water/yeast mixture is creamy pour it in the well along with the olive oil. Stir well & transfer to table that is dusted with flour. Kneed for 5 minutes or so. Add more flour as needed so it won't stick to table. Put a bit of olive oil in bowl, toss the ball of dough to coat, cover with clean towel & set in warm spot to rise for 90 minutes.

This makes 2 pizzas. I make 1 large one on a pizza stone, & then a medium sized one. I only have 1 pizza stone, so I put the second pizza on a 10x15 cookie sheet, but it isn't as large as the cookie sheet (apporx. 9x13). It takes a little work to get the dough rolled out, but once you get it going it's easier. Add the toppings you like & bake at 425 for 20-25 minutes. It smells GREAT!
The pizza in the picture has 1 can Del Monte Diced Tomatoes with basil, garlic, & oregano (you can use regular pizza sauce), Italian sausage, mushrooms (canned, but I like fresh better), onions, green peppers, & cheese. We like pepperoni too, but I didn't have any on hand that day. I also left it in the oven about a minute too long....but it sure was good. The Fam says it tastes like pizzaria pizza. :)

UPDATE:
I am updating this on 7-14-08
I wanted to say that I now use this recipe to make 2 large pizzas. We really like thin & crispy crust, so I've found that if I roll this out really thin, & then pre-bake the crust for 10 minutes, we get a nice thin & crispy crust. It's SO good! It makes a large pizza stone pizza & then an extra large pizza on this new pizza pan I got for Christmas.