Homemade Pizza

• 1 cup warm water, 110º F to 115º F
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon active dry yeast
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 to 2 1/2 cups flour

Instructions:

First, stir the sugar into the warm water until dissolved. Then pour in the yeast. Let it stand for 10 minutes; after it's dissolved and looks foamy, stir it well and add the oil, stirring it in as well. Throw in the salt and 3/4 of a cup of the flour to start with. Beat until smooth. Add 1 cup of flour and mix in, then keep adding flour by 1/4 cup at a time until the dough has a nice easy kneadable consistency, neither so moist that it sticks nor so dry that it looks crusty. Knead the dough for 8 to 10 minutes. Grease a bowl and throw the dough lump in, then turn it over once to grease the top of the dough's surface. Put the bowl in a warm spot and let it rise until doubled; it takes 45 minutes to an hour. Punch the dough down and divide in two. Press the dough out carefully and evenly into two 12-inch pizza pans. (It helps to work from the center and gradually roll the dough toward the edges with the flat of the palm.) Make sure to leave a healthy standing rim of dough for the crust of the pizza. Once it's flat and even and has no holes or bubbles, it is ready to be dressed; put on a layer of tomato or white pizza sauce, cover with cheese and toppings, and bake at 350º F for approximately half an hour. (Let the crust get to the point where the edges are just barely starting to turn brown.) Let cool a couple minutes before attempting to cut into slices.