Italian Farmhouse Pizza Dough

• Heat water until about 100°F. If water is warmer than 100°F, wait until it cools to just under 100°F before proceeding, else it will kill the yeast
  
• Stir in the yeast, sugar, and 1 teaspoon of flour. The bubbles should form on the surface in about 8 minutes. If not, the yeast is not active or past its prime, and you should start again with fresher yeast and water just below 100°F.
  
• In the mixer or mixing bowl, add the remaining flour and salt.
  
• Blend in the liquid mixture. Mix until soft and sticky. If the dough is very soft, add more flour, one tablespoon at a time, until it becomes soft and sticky and somewhat elastic.
  
• Continue to knead the dough by hand for 5 minutes.
  
• Lightly oil a bowl with olive oil and place dough in bowl. Cover bowl with plastic wrap.
  
• Let dough sit in the bowl, at room temperature, for about 2 hours or until it has nearly tripled in size.
  
• About 20 minutes before baking, punch down the dough, form into a ball, and place back in the bowl. Cover and let sit for 20 minutes.
  
• Heat the oven to 500°F.
  
• Spread the dough out on a baking sheet or pizza pan that has been lightly greased with olive oil. I prefer to do this by hand for a real rustic or farmhouse look to the dough. The dough should be very thin, approximately 1/8" or so. Allow dough to sit for up to 10 minutes before proceeding.
  
• Place pan into oven and allow to bake for 3 to 5 minutes or until the dough begins to puff up and take on a lightly golden color.
  
• Remove from the oven and lightly coat with olive oil.
  
• Place in oven and bake for another 3 minutes.
  
• Remove from the oven and add toppings (whatever toppings you desire -- See my note at bottom for my favorite).
  
• Place in oven and cook for 8 to 10 minutes.
  
• Slip the pizza off the pan and directly onto the rack or shelf in oven. Allow to cook for another 2 to 3 minutes to crisp up the bottom of the pizza.
  
• Slide pizza back onto pan and remove from oven.
  
• Cut and serve hot.
  

NOTES:

• This pizza crust should be thin and slightly crispy.
  
• I prefer to top this with carmelized onions (very black, cooking in pan with a little brown sugar), goat cheese, rosemary (fresh is better, else reconstitute in white wine and add to onions in pan after the onions are black and carmelized), and sliced artichoke hearts.
  
• You can also make several small pizzas out of this to make personal pizzas.
  
• Using small potions of the dough, this also makes an excellent crust for onion tarts.