Andrew Rinne's Pizza Dough

Andrew made this for me and another roommate while we lived together our senior year and it was SO good.

Ingredients:

* 1 cup warm water (not HOT though; it'll kill the yeast)
* 1 package or 2 teaspoons active dry yeast
* pinch of sugar
* 3 cups flour (All-purpose flour will work fine, but bread flour is better. Bread flour has more gluten than all-purpose flour, so the dough will be a little tougher and hold its shape better.)
* 2 teaspoons salt
* 1 Tablespoon olive oil

Mix the water, sugar, and yeast in a large bowl. Let stand for 5 minutes or until the mixture starts to bubble. This activates the yeast. Stir in the salt, olive oil, and 1 cup of the flour. Mix until smooth. Add the remaining flour 1/2 cup at a time, mixing thoroughly after each addition. (The dough should come away from the sides of the bowl and be soft, but not very sticky. If the dough is too sticky, you can add extra flour a little bit at a time, until the consistency is right.)

Turn out the dough on a floured surface and knead for several minutes. Place the dough in an oiled bowl and cover. Let the dough rise for 1 to 1-1/2 hours, until it roughly doubles in size. Punch down the dough and put it back on the floured surface. Heat the oven to 500 degrees. Divide the dough into 2 pieces and knead for one or two minutes. Let the dough stand for 10 minutes. (This lets the gluten relax, so it will be easier to roll out.)

Roll the dough out to the desired thickness. If you use a metal pizza pan, spray it with nonstick spray first. Top as desired, and bake for 8-10 minutes if you use a hot pizza stone and 10-12 minutes if you use a metal pizza pan. Check it while it's baking, though because it can vary.