Pizza Dough

Dactyl's favorite food. As he says, it's like sex in that 'when it's good it's great and when it's bad it's still pretty good.' We started making this at home because we can control what ingredients are in it and because we would never use our grill otherwise.

1 tsp active dry yeast
2 tbsp warm water (not higher than 120F)
2/3 c water
2 c unbleached all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp coarse salt
olive oil
toppings

Combine the yeast and warm water in your mixer bowl. Let it sit until it blooms, 5-10 minutes. 'Bloom' with yeast means that it'll go from a hard little pellet to a floating unattractive mass and it'll start to smell like beer. Add the rest of the water, flour & salt. Sometimes if I'm being fancy I'll also add some dried herbs... oregano, basil, marjoram, that kind of thing. If the consistency of your dough seems very sticky, add a tablespoon more flour. When I make this during the winter, the dough is very tight, but if I make it in the humid Atlanta summer it sticks to everything. I'd suggest you make it the way it's printed once, and adjust accordingly.

I said 'mixer bowl' because I use my stand mixer with the dough hook, and let it knead on a medium speed for 10 minutes at this point. If you want, you can do this manually, but you'll have to knead for at least double the time, probably more like triple. It'll go from a weeknight task to backbreaking labor.

While your mixer or hired labor is kneading, prepare a bowl by coating it in olive oil. Being the super-traditional Italian white girl that I am, I opt for plastic wrap over trying to get dried on library paste off a tea towel. When the dough is finished being kneaded, put it into the bowl, coat both sides with olive oil, cover it with the plastic wrap and let it sit in a warm area for 2 hours. After 2 hours, punch it down, re-form it into a ball, and cover it with plastic wrap again. Let rise for at least 2 hours, or overnight in the fridge.

Now, decision time. You can either bake this in the oven OR grill it. If you want to bake it, preheat your oven to 450 F. If you want to grill it, start up the grill! Put down some flour on your board, flour your hands, punch your dough down and divide it into 2 separate balls. Put it on the board in the flour, sprinkle some flour on top and work the dough back & forth. Typical pizza thickness will be a roughly 7 inch circle, but being from New York, I stretch mine out to a 9 inch circle.

For Baking:
Put your pizza on a cookie sheet. If you think it'll stick, put extra flour down underneath it. Add your toppings, then bake on a lower rack for 15-20 minutes, until the toppings are cooked and the bottom is browned. Let it cool for at least a minute before you dig in!

For Grilling:
I bring my board out with me, and plop the pizza directly onto the grates of the grill (oil lightly with a basting brush and olive oil). When the underside begins to brown, you will be able to lift the pizza off the grate easily... if it doesn't come off, let it cook a bit more and try again. DO NOT try and shift it around and move it, even if you put it on there kind of weird looking and you want to fix it. You'll only make a mess. Flip the pizza over and add your toppings while the pizza is still on the grill. We find a two-tong approach works best. Close the cover and allow the pizza to cook for 3-4 minutes. Again, let it cool at least 1 minute until you start slicing.

Picky Husband Info: We both love the 'grill' recipe because it gives him something to do when we have people over, and it's a surprising preparation so he gets to look like a super hero. He also gets to have (turkey) pepperoni and (low fat part skim) cheese so he feels super naughty without giving him a coronary. Plus, I get to force some veggies down his gullet in the guise of spaghetti sauce.

The Verdict: 'Can we have more? Maybe next week?' Every time.