Pizza Dough

I was talking with Megan today and she told me that they got a Cuisinart pizza oven as a wedding gift. (What a fun gift! Hopefully Megan will let us all know how she likes it!) We were talking about how she was going to make the pizza dough, when I looked around my recipe box, I had a recipe for pizza dough that is made in the food processor. Once you have made your crust the topping possibilities are endless. One of our favorite pizza places is Sauce, check out their menu for inspiration. Having a pizza oven could inspire you to start a fun family tradition. Maybe pizza on Friday nights, you could try new seasonal toppings every week! Does anyone make pizza at home? What are your favorite topping combination's?

1 Tbs. active dry yeast

1 tsp. sugar

1 cup warm water (105° to 115°F)

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp. salt

2 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil

In a small bowl, dissolve the yeast and sugar in the warm water and let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes. In the bowl of your cuisinart, fitted with the blade, combine the flour and salt and process with 3 or 4 pulses. With the motor running on the medium speed, slowly add the yeast mixture, allowing each addition to be absorbed before adding more. Continue processing until the dough forms a ball and cleans the sides of the bowl, about 1 minute, then process for 1 minute more.

Coat the inside of a large bowl with the olive oil and place the dough in the bowl. (this oil should be enough to keep the dough from sticking) Cover with a kitchen towel and let the dough rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 1⁄2 hours. Divide the dough in half and roll out this will make two 12-inch round pizzas or you can roll it out into a cookie sheet like my friend Dani does. If you have a pizza oven follow the directions for the machine, I do not have one so when I made pizza I set my oven to 450 and bake 9 minutes, on the center rack.

Editors Note:
Thanks to Jason for becoming our official sommelier! A note from Jason on pizza & wine:

Wow! Making your own pizza dough, that is dedication. I always cheat and buy the pre-made variety from Trader Joe's. Either way as I am unofficially taking the role of pairing wines with Jessie's recipes (though pumpkin pancakes is still throwing me for a loop) I can wholeheartedly recommend the 2005 Epicuro Aglianico. If you have to run out to grab that one pick up its sibling the Salice Salentino as well. Pair'em both with the pizza and let us know what you think!
Cheers,
Jason