Basic Pizza Dough

If you keep balls of this basic pizza dough in the freezer, you are always ready to make homemade pizza, stromboli, calzones, bread sticks, and much more. Double this recipe and you will have 4 balls of dough to freeze.

Ingredients

1 tablespoon sugar
1 1/4-ounce packet (2 1/4 teaspoons) active dry yeast
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for brushing
3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
1 1/2 teaspoons salt

Directions

Whisk 1 1/3 cups warm water (105 degrees F) and the sugar in a bowl; sprinkle the yeast on top. Set aside until foamy, about 10 minutes. Stir in the olive oil.

Whisk the flour and salt in a large bowl. Make a well in the center of the flour and pour in the yeast mixture. Gradually stir with a wooden spoon to make a rough dough.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead until smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes, dusting with more flour if necessary. Form into 2 balls. Brush 2 large bowls with olive oil, add a ball of dough to each and turn to coat with the oil. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and set aside at room temperature until doubled in size, about 1 hour, 30 minutes. Roll out and top as desired, or wrap in plastic wrap and freeze up to 1 month.

Recipe and picture are the property of Food Network and can be viewed on their website at: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchens/basic-pizza-dough-recipe/index.html