Quick Rustic Pizza Crust

Adapted from Quick and Easy Pizza Crust Recipe found at allrecipes.com.

A pizza stone gives the most "rustic" crust of all with this quick and easy pizza crust recipe, but very impressive results are also obtained with a ventilated pizza pan, the kind with lots of little holes in it. It's so good though (especially combined with the companion sauce recipe below) that trust me, no one is going to complain no matter what kind of pan you have available to make it on! Recipe makes enough for two 12 inch or one 16 inch pizza. This dough also makes a wonderful focaccia bread.

1 slightly rounded tbsp (or two packages) active dry yeast, quick rise or regular, either are acceptable

2 tsp sugar

2 cups warm water

5 cups bread flour (all purpose is fine to substitute in a pinch)

4 tbsp olive oil (3 for dough, one reserved for brushing pan and crust)

1-2 tsp sea salt (preferably 2, but 1 will work)

Prepare pizza pan(s) by brushing with oil and sprinkling with cornmeal. Pizza stone requires no oiling.

In a large mixing bowl, place yeast and sugar in warm water and allow to dissolve completely, about 5-10 minutes. Add 3 tbsp olive oil, salt, and half the flour into the yeast mixture, mix until smooth and well blended. Add remaining flour and mix in to form a soft dough, knead for about 5 minutes. A mixer with a dough hook makes this fast and easy to do because the dough is very soft and sticky. (Not saying it can't be done by hand, but the soft texture and inherent stickiness of this dough is what makes it, and doing it without a mixer makes it hard to keep the dough "wet".) Allow dough to rise for about 10 minutes in the bowl, do not punch down, then turn out on lightly floured surface and do not knead, just roll out into a round slightly smaller than your pizza pan or stone. Place round on oiled pizza pan and press into place to fit. Brush dough with remaining olive oil, then allow to rest for 5-10 minutes before topping. Place topped pizza in oven preheated to 500 degrees, lower temperature to 450 immediately and bake until crust and toppings are browned, about 20 minutes, depending on your oven.