Nothing is better than pizza dough made from scratch. For the pizza connoisseur (and the pizza consumer), the crust can make or break the whole pie. It does take some extra time and patience, but we promise that it is well worth the effort.

　　

Ingredients

makes one 9 x 13-inch crust

　　1/2 teaspoon sugar

　　1 cup warm water (110° to 115°F)

　　1 package active dry yeast (2 1/2 teaspoons)

　　2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

　　1/2 cup yellow cornmeal

　　3/4 teaspoon salt

　　2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for the bowl

　　

Step 1

In a large bowl, dissolve the sugar in the warm water. Sprinkle the yeast over the water and let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes. Stir in 2 1/4 cups of the flour, the cornmeal, salt, and 2 tablespoons of the oil, stirring until the mixture forms a dough. Put the dough on a floured surface and knead, incorporating as much of the remaining 1/4 cup flour as necessary to prevent the dough from sticking, until smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes.

　　

Step 2

Put the dough in a deep, oiled bowl and turn to coat with the oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the dough rise in a warm place for 1 hour or until doubled in bulk.

　　

notes

Step 3

If you don’t plan to use the pizza dough within two days of making it, form the dough into a disk and place in a zip-top freezer bag. The dough will last in the freezer for up to two months.

　　

Step 4

Pizza Dough is not just for pizza anymore! It is a very flexible building block for tasty treats. Sandy likes to roll it out, brush it with melted butter, and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar for a quick and sweet dessert.

　　From The Casserole Queens Cookbook by Crystal Cook & Sandy Pollock. Copyright © 2011 by Crystal Cook and Sandy Pollock; Food photographs copyright © 2011 by Ben Fink. Published by Clarkson Potter/Publishers.Crystal Cook and Sandy Pollock, the Casserole Queens, have been delivering casseroles in Austin, Texas, since 2006; they also teach cooking classes at Whole Foods stores in the area. They have been featured on Food Network's Throwdown! with Bobby Flay and Bobby Flay Radio on Sirius XM, as well as on television news and radio talk shows.