Emeril Lagasse's Perfect Pizza Dough

Ingredients

• 1 cup warm water (110F)

• 1 (1/4 ounce) envelope active dry yeast
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 3 cups all-purpose flour, divided
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 teaspoon salt

Directions

1. 1

   In the bowl of your heavy-duty mixer (like a Kenwood or KitchenAid), stir together the water, yeast and sugar; let sit until the mixture is foamy, which takes about 5 minutes.

2. 2

   Add 1 1/2 cups of the flour, the oil and salt into the yeast mixture and, using the paddle attachment (also known as the K beater), combine until mixture is smooth.

3. 3

   Switch to the dough hook.

4. 4

   With the machine running at low, add remaining flour, 1/4 cup at a time; make sure each addition of flour is incorporated before adding the next.

5. 5

   Once all the flour has been added, turn up the speed and let the machine knead the dough for about 3 minutes; it should be very smooth and perhaps a bit tacky.

6. 6

   Feel free to add an extra minute or two of kneading if you wish; it won't hurt the dough at all.

7. 7

   Rub the insides of a large mixing bowl with a little olive oil; remove dough from machine, form into a ball, and place into oiled bowl, turning dough over to make sure all sides are oiled.

8. 8

   Cover bowl with plastic wrap and place in a warm, draft-free area to rise; the dough should nearly double in size, which will take about 60 to 90 minutes.

9. 9

   An old habit of mine is to place a towel around the bowl, just to make sure no drafts get to the dough.

10. 10

    When dough is ready, lightly punch it down and knead it a bit, still right in the bowl.

11. 11

    Lightly flour your work surface and place dough ball on it; let it rest for 10 minutes.

12. 12

    This makes one large pizza; if you prefer two smaller pizzas, cut dough in half, then form into two balls and let rest, as above.

13. 13

    After dough has rested, form into a 16-inch round (or two 8-inch rounds) and you're ready to make pizza, using your favourite toppings.

14. 14

    The biggest trick here, when stretching out the dough, is not to get frustrated; if you find you're stretching the pizza and it's resisting and is too elastic, bouncing right back from each stretch, just walk away for a few minutes; after you let the pizza rest again, you'll find the dough will let you stretch it out.

15. 15

    You might even want to try flipping it into the air a bit!

16. 16

    Warning: let it come down on your knuckles, not your fingertips, or you'll tear the dough!

17. 17

    The best way to bake your prepared pizza is on a baking stone (or you can use a pizza pan, if you don't have a stone) on your lowest oven rack; Emeril suggests 8 to 10 minutes at 475F, but a little lower temperature for a little longer works just fine too.