Published May 1, 1995.
For our pizza dough recipe we found that using rapid-rise yeast proofed in warm water cuts the rising time down to a mere 40 minutes. We also found that the dough could simply be stretched to the desired thickness, whether you want a medium-thick pizza or a thin and crispy one. To get the crispiest, most evenly browned crust, we liked using quarry tiles over a pan, pizza screen, or pizza stone in our pizza dough recipe.
This dough can be used for any size pizza with thick or thin crust; simply adjust the cooking time to fit the pizza.
Make sure you heat the oven to 500 degrees for thirty minutes before you start cooking. Your tiles or stone need at least that long to heat up; if they're not properly heated, your pizza crust will be thin, blond, and limp. Once the dough for the crust has been topped, use a quick jerking action to slide it off the peel and onto the hot tiles or stone; make sure that the pizza lands far enough back so that its front edge does not hang off.
For a cornmeal-flavored dough, substitute three-quarters cup of cornmeal for three-quarters cup of the flour.
Editor's Note: This recipe was updated in 1997, when we found that adding more water resulted in a tastier pizza. This recipe contains a total of 1 3/4 cups water, while the original that appeared in the magazine in 1995 contains 1 1/2 cups.
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