New York Style Pizza

On this adventure I made my own crust and sauce.  At first I was worried about the dough because I had a hard time shaping it, but I worked with it for a bit and was pleased with the result.

Dough Ingredients

1 (1/4-ounce) package active dry yeast
1 3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, plus extra for kneading & dredging
3/4 cup warm water
1 1/2  tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp olive oil

Directions

1. Stir together yeast, 1tbsp flour, and 1/4 cup of warm water in a measuring cup and let stand until surface appears creamy (approx. 5 min)
2. Stir together 1 1/4 cups flour and salt in a large bowl. Add yeast mixture, oil and remaining 1/2 cup warm water until smooth.  Stir in enough of remaining flour so dough comes away from sides of bowl. 
3. Knead dough on a dry surface with lightly floured hands. Form into 1 ball. Loosely cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm draft-free place until doubled in bulk (about 1 1/4 hours).

To shape for baking:
1. Do not punch down dough. Carefully dredge dough in a bowl of flour to coat and transfer to dry work surface. Holding one edge of dough in the air with both hands and letting bottom tough work surface, carefully move hands around edge of dough, allowing weight of dough to  stretch round to roughly 10 inches.

Z helping with toppings.

I then decided the par-bake the crust at 425 for 6 minutes before putting on the toppings.

For the sauce I just pureed a can of diced tomatoes, a can of tomato paste, a little olive oil, a little salt, and some Italian seasonings. I boiled it for a few minutes to thicken and added about a tbsp of brown sugar while doing so.

Top with any ingredient you like and bake for 12-14 minutes!