Pizza Base

Serves: 4  Cooking time (approx.): 8 minutes Style: Italian Vegetarian ¼ cup warm water 2  teaspoon(s) dry yeast 1  teaspoon(s) sugar 2  cup(s) plain flour 1  teaspoon(s) salt 1  tablespoon(s) oil Mix the sugar in the warm water. Sprinkle the yeast and shake the cup gently so as to mix the yeast. Cover and keep in a warm place for about 10 minutes or till it becomes frothy. Mix the frothy yeast water into the flour with salt and oil. Knead well with a little warm water (add water little by little as required) till it forms a soft dough. Cover the dough with a damp cloth and keep it in a warm place for about 1 hour or till it doubles in size. Knead and punch the dough again with greased hands to is original size and keep covered with a moist muslin cloth for about 15 minutes or till it swells again. Make 2 balls of the pizza dough and roll each one with dry flour into medium thick discs of 9" diameter for a thin crust pizza. For a deep pan thick crust pizza, hand press each ball (instead of rolling) on a floured surface into a 7" disc. Prick with a fork all over so that it does not fluff up while baking. Top with pizza sauce, toppings and bake as specified in the recipes. Alternatively, the base can be baked for about 8  minutes in a preheated oven and when desired, baked again with pizza sauce, toppings and cheese as specified in the recipes. TIPS: It is very important to check that the water is warm enough to mix in the yeast so as to facilitate good fermentation.

 
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