Pizza Dough

1 oz (30 grams) yeast
1 pinch sugar
1 3/4 cups (350ml) lukewarm water
1 lb (500 grams) flour (use white, wheat, or spelt flour, you may need more or less four depending on the humidity in the air, you must go by feel, but you don’t want it to be too sticky to work with)
½ tsp salt

Crumble yeast into a small bowl and sprinkle with sugar. Stir in 5 tablespoons of the lukewarm water and 3 tablespoons of the flour. Cover with a clean tea towel and leave to rise in a warm, draft-free place for about 30-60 minutes.

Sieve the rest of the flour onto the work surface, make a well in the center and add the yeast mixture prepared above. Add the salt. Gradually work in the flour from the edges, adding the rest of the lukewarm water (the amount of water depends on the type of flour used) until the dough not longer sticks.
Knead the dough for at least 15 minutes, stretching it with the balls of the thumb and folding it back on itself until it is smooth and elastic.

Roll the dough into a ball, cover and leave to rise in a warm place for 1-2 hours. Briefly knead again before dividing up into portions and rolling out to form flat dough rounds. Place these on well-greased pizza tins or baking trays and press down the edges to form a thick crust.
Brush with a thin layer of olive oil and add toppings.

Bake at 460 degrees F (250 C) at the bottom of the oven for 15-20 minutes.
Pizza is best baked in a traditional Italian stone oven, fired with wood. In these conditions the temperature can reach 645 degrees F (340 C) and the pizza only needs to be baked for 4-5 minutes.

Favorite toppings:
Pesto

1 Bunch of basil
¾ Cup of extra virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves
¼ cup Parmesan cheese
¼ cup of Pine Nuts
Sea salt to your taste

Pesto, Artichoke hearts, sauteed spinach, and Feta

Tomato sauce, brie, serrano ham, and arugula

Tomato sauce, eggplant, zucchini, garlic, mozzarella

Olive oil, sauteed spinach, goat cheese, pine nuts and raisins