pizza recipe

Ingredients:

4 cups of flour, preferably white
2 cups of water
1 tablespoon yeast
1 tablespoon olive oil (vegetable oil will also work)
1 tablespoon sugar
1 cup of tomato sauce
Grated cheese (to taste)
Butter or margarine

Optional ingredients:
Tomatoes
Salami
Ham
Pepperoni
Sweet peppers
Hot peppers
Olives (green and/or black)
Onions
Garlic powder
Mushrooms
Ground beef
Chicken

Step 1: Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. While oven is heating, mix together water, sugar and yeast and let stand for 10 minutes until foam has formed on top of the water. Mix together flour and olive oil in a separate dish and wait for water to foam.

Step 2: Mix water with foam together with the flour after applying butter or margarine to your hands. Mix until dough is "tacky" or slightly sticky to the touch (about 3 to 5 minutes). Then wash your hands, and with a brush apply margarine to the surface of the dough in the dish. Then leave dough close enough to the oven to get warm, but not hot. Dough will take about 45 minutes to rise.

Step 3: Apply butter or margarine to a pizza pan or cookie sheet. If possible, freeze the pan in the freezer or chill in a refrigerator. This will make spreading the dough on the pan easier.

Step 3: Prepare any other ingredients you will need. This can include preparing the tomato sauce, grating the cheese, cutting up vegetables, or cooking any meats you will need.

Step 4: Once dough has risen (about 45 minutes after it was mixed) spread it out on your chilled pizza pan. Once the dough is spread out, wash your hands and then add the tomato sauce, then any meats or vegetables you want on top of the sauce. Add your cheese last, as this will prevent the other ingredients from drying out.

Step 5: Bake your pizza in the oven for 17 minutes or until it looked fully cooked. For a firmer or crunchy crust, cook for slightly longer, about 19 minutes.