Basic Thin Crust Pizza

Ingredients:

1/2 tsp active dry yeast
1/2 tsp sugar
1/8 cup warm water

1 cup all-purpose flour (Tipo O)
2/3 tsp salt
1/2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup warm water
cornmeal for dusting

Basic Toppings (A Must):

1/2 cup tomato puree
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2/3 tsp salt
150 g mozzarella cheese (best serve: hot/warm) or stracchino cheese (can be served at room temperature), shredded

Choice of Toppings:

cheese: mozzarella, stracchino, fontina, gorgonzola, parmesan and/or grana
vegetable/herb: onion, garlic, spinach, mushroom, artichokes, asparagus, eggplant, bell pepper, tomato, corn, peas, olive, rucola, zuccini, capers, oregano and/or chili
poultry: egg and/or cooked chicken
meat: bacon, sausage, ham, salami and/or bresaola
fish: tuna and/or anchovies

Method:

Dissolve yeast and sugar in warm water, leave for 10 minutes or till foamy.

In a large bowl, mix together the flour, oil, and salt.

Make a hole in the center of flour mixture, pour-in slowly the yeast solution, gradually add-in the remaining water alternate cover-in with the surrounding dry flour.

Knead the mixture from outside-in to form smooth and elastic dough.

Leave dough at warm corner covered to rise for 1 1/2 hours or till double in size.

Grease a pan (28 cm in diameter) with extra virgin olive oil ; set aside.

Preheat oven to 250 °C.

In a bowl, combine tomato puree, oil and salt; set aside.

Punch down the risen dough, form into dough ball, turn the dough out onto a large working surface dusted with plenty of cornmeal.

Flatten the dough, hold it vertically at one edge and rotate, allowing gravity to stretch it, lay the stretched pizza base onto the prepared pan, press the dough outward very thin from the center to form large pizza base circle, sprinkle-on cornmeal all the way around the edge (if desired, fold-in about 1/2 inch of all side dough and pinch it up to yield a raised or rim before sprinkling-on cornmeal).

Alternatively, use a floured rolling pin and roll out the dough into thin crust circle (if the dough springs back, let it rest a minute or two, or chill it in the fridge, and continue to work it out again) before laying onto the prepared pan.

Pour the tomato puree mixture onto the center of the prepared pizza crust, spread-out the liquid mixture evenly via spoon (limit the liquid mixture spreading for about 1 inch apart from outer edge).

Arrange-on the favorite toppings (normally up to 4 choices).

Bake pizza on the lowest oven rack in a preheated hot oven.

Occasionally, check the underneath of pizza by lifting up the crust, rotate it during halfway baking for an even cooking (If the bottom is still pale while the top seems almost done, turn the oven temperature down and leave the pizza in longer).

Once the crust is lightly browned (about 8 minutes), sprinkle-on cheeses, continue bake the pizza for an additional 4 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and start to be bubbly.

Remove pizza from oven, and slide out onto wire rack to cool for about 5 minutes before serving.