Pizza Margherita

Special hardware required: pizza stone

Crust
1 envelope (1/4 oz) active dry yeast
1 cups warm water (110 degrees F)
3 cups flour, plus extra flour for kneading
1/4 tsp salt
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp corn oil

Toppings
1 large ball fresh mozzarella, sliced
fresh basil leaves
thinly sliced tomatoes
crushed red pepper
oregano
extra-virgin olive oil
tomato sauce (I start with canned tomato sauce, which includes: water, tomato paste, salt, onion powder, garlic powder, citric acid, natural flavors, and dried bell pepper. Sometimes I add other ingredients to the sauce, including olive oil, herbs, butter, spices, and white wine)

Crust (prepare at least 1 day before making pizza)

1. In a large bowl, mix yeast and warm water until yeast is dissolved, and allow to sit for a few minutes.

2. Add flour, salt, olive oil, and corn oil. Stir until a dough is formed.

3. Knead dough for about 5-10 minutes, adding more flour until dough is no longer sticky

4. Cover dough and allow to rise for about 45 minutes.

5. Split dough into 2-3 balls and place in plastic bags. Allow to rest in the refrigerator for one day before making pizza, or freeze for later use.

Pizza

1. Preheat oven (with pizza stone inside) to 500 degrees.

2. Cover dough with flour, and roll thin. I like to fold the dough over on itself several times to create flaky layers. Finally, roll out the dough so that it is about 1/4 inch thick.

3. You can use a different technique here, but I find it easiest to quickly build the pizza directly on the pizza stone. I remove the pizza stone from the oven (mine has convenient handles), place the dough on the pizza stone, and then follow with the toppings in the following order:

• olive oil (make sure to get the outside edges of the crust)
• oregano
  
• sauce
• mozzarella slices
• tomatoes
• basil leaves

4. Bake for about 10-15 minutes (or until GBD).

5. Top with crushed red pepper.

6. Allow to rest for 5 minutes before slicing.