Pizza Dough And Variations

INGREDIENTS

INSTRUCTIONS

In a small bowl, dissolve the sugar or honey in warm tap water that is
110-115 deg F. (When making the New York Variation, omit the sugar and
proceed as follows). Sprinkle the yeast over the water and stir gently
until it dissolves, about 1 minute. Let stand in a warm spot until a
thin layer of foam covers the surface, about 5 minutes. Discard
mixture and start over if bubbles have not formed within 5 minutes.  If
making whole-wheat dough, combine the 2 flours in a bowl and use  as
the flour in the directions that follow.  If making the cornmeal dough,
combine the flour and cornmeal in a  bowl and use the mixture as the
flour in the directions that follow.  To mix and knead the dough by
hand: Combine 3 cups of the flour with  the salt in a large mixing
bowl. Make a well in the center of the  flour and pour in the yeast
mixture and the oil, if using. Using a  wooden spoon, vigorously stir
the flour into the well, beginning in  the center, and working toward
the sides of the bowl, until the flour  is incorporated and the soft
dough just begins to hold together.  Turn the dough out onto a lightly
floured surface. Dust your hands  with flour and knead the dough gently
in the following manner: press  down on the dough with the heels of
your hands and push it away from  you, then partially fold it back over
itself. Shift it a quarter turn  and repeat the procedure. While
kneading, very gradually add just  enough of the remaining 1/4 c flour
until the dough is no longer  sticky or tacky. This should take about 5
minutes. As you work, use a  metal dough scraper to pry up any bits of
dough that stick to the  work surface. Continue kneading until the
dough is smooth, elastic,  and springy. Too much kneading overdevelops
the gluten in the flour  and results in a tough crust.  After mixing
and kneading the dough, shape the dough into a ball and  place it in a
well-oiled bowl, turning to coat completely on all  sides with oil.
Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap to prevent  moisture loss and
set to rise in a draft-free warm place (75-85 deg  F) until doubled in
bulk, about 45 minutes for quick rising yeast to  1 - 1.5 hours for
regular yeast.  With your fist, punch down the dough as soon as it has
doubled in  bulk to prevent overrising. Shape it into a ball, pressing
out all  the air bubbles. If you are using bread flour or semolina
flour, turn  the dough in an oiled bowl to coat once more, cover again
with  plastic wrap and refrigerate it until puffy, from 35 minutes to 1
hour. Omit this step if using all-purpose flour.  If you cannot bake
pizza withing 2 hours after rising, punch the  dough down again, turn
it in an oiled bowl to coat once more, cover  the bowl tightly with
plastic wrap and refrigerate. The dough can be  punched down a total of
4 times and kept refrigerated up to 36 hours  before the yeast is
exhausted and the dough unusable. Let chilled  dough come to room
temperature before proceeding.  Excerpted from the book, Pizza, by
James McNair. Chapter includes  instructions on dough-making with a
food processor and professional  mixing bowl.  From Gemini's MASSIVE
MealMaster collection at www.synapse.com/~gemini

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Nutrition (calculated from recipe ingredients)
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Calories: 5428
Calories From Fat: 256
Total Fat: 29.8g
Cholesterol: 0mg
Sodium: 3530.4mg
Potassium: 1764.6mg
Carbohydrates: 1109.5g
Fiber: 45.3g
Sugar: 28.9g
Protein: 156.2g