Herb and Garlic Pizza Dough

Who doesn't love a good pizza? Pizza is easy to make, and and the dough can be made ahead of time so you have it ready when you are. A lot of people are intimidated by using yeast in their home cooking, to be honest, i was one of those people not so long ago, but it's nothing to be afraid of. I've personally only used instant or dry active yeast so far, i have yet to experiment with other types. Instant yeast requires no proofing, and you can add it right to the flour. The key to getting the yeast to rise is using water that is warm enough to make it get to work, but not so hot that it will die from the heat. Yeast is alive, and it has lots of wonderful potential, it is good for you and your digestive system, so long as you don't over do it. Fortunately in baking, a little bit really does go a long way.

Making pizza is pretty simple, and you get to have full creative control over it from the very beginning to the very end. Whether you want to make a more traditional pizza, or the more common extremely cheesy pizza most of us north american's love, it's really all up to you how you want your finished product to turn out. This is my favourite recipe for dough, but of course you can change the flavours to whatever suits you best. Remember, if you're using dry herbs instead of fresh herbs, always double the amount to get the flavour. Don't like oregano? use any herb you wish. Don't like garlic? omit it entirely, or use equal amount of seeds instead.

Herb and Garlic Pizza Dough
1 1/2 cups never bleached all purpose flour
3/4 tsp dry active yeast
1 tsp sugar
1/2tsp salt
1 tbsp fresh finely chopped garlic
1 tbsp fresh finely chopped oregano
2tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup finger hot water

• In a mixing bowl measure flour, yeast sugar, salt (don't let the salt touch the yeast), garlic and oregano.
• Using a dough hook, or wooden spoon, slowly stir flour mixture while very slowly pouring in water and oil. Add just enough water to bring the dough mostly together and continue kneading until a ball is formed. 
• Knead dough ball for 5-10 minutes with a dough hook on low speed or with hands by folding dough onto itself and pressing down, repeat this motion. Dough should become smooth and elastic. If dough is sticky add more flour, if the dough won't come together, add a little more water.
• cover bowl with plastic wrap and set aside in a warm place for an hour to an hour and 30 minutes. (At this point, if you wish to keep the dough until the next day before you make the pizza you can now put it in the fridge as it is. Otherwise, continue the process.)
• Knock dough down and turn out onto a floured chopping block or counter and roll out with a floured rolling pin (make a circle or a rectangle, whatever shape your pan is) roll out to 1/4" thickness give or take depending on how thin or thick you like your dough. 
• Transfer dough to lightly oiled baking pan before adding desired sauce and toppings. 

All Recipes Created and Published by: Rachel Gonsalves