Pizza!

I have had a couple of requests for a good pizza dough recipe lately, so I'm posting an easy, delicious one given to me by Chris Sardo, the wildly popular cooking instructor at Wild Oats (She has groupies!) and a dietician at Ohio State. Chris is of Sicilian descent, so she knows her pizza, plus she's health and time-conscious, which I like.

If you are not short on time, making homemade pizza on a lazy Saturday perhaps, definitely check out this great pizza dough recipe from 101 cookbooks.

Pizza Dough, courtesy of Christine Sardo
Ingredients & Directions:
1 packet of rapid rise yeast (Rize, available at Wild Oats, is a good brand.)
~ 3 cups of flour
Lukewarm water
1 t. salt (optional)
2 T. olive oil

1) Put flour into a food processor; add salt if desired. Add yeast to the flour and pulse, just to mix. Turn the food processor on and add lukewarm water gradually, just until it appears "doughy" and not too dry. Add a little flour as needed.

2)After forming into a dough ball, place the dough into a large bowl and lightly drizzle olive oil on top. Let it rest for approximately 1 hour. (It should double in size—if you don’t let it rise long enough it still works fine; you just get a flatter dough.)

3)Knead the dough on a pizza stone (or counter) sprinkled with flour (only for about 1-2 minutes).
Prepare pizza pan: Brush with olive oil, then sprinkle with corn meal.

4)Ease dough to fit the pan. Add toppings of choice, fresh parmesan, etc.

BAKE AT 425 DEGREES UNTIL CRUST IS BROWNED. IF I REMEMBER CORRECTLY, THIS IS ABOUT 10 MINUTES.

MORE PIZZA-BAKING TIPS TOMORROW!