pizza dough

I'm currently obsessed with making homemade pizza, so when I sat down with Michael Chiarello last week at the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen, I asked the chef how he makes pizza at his house.

Here's the method he shared:

1. Chiarello pointed out that like most skills, practice helps, so the more pizza you make the better at it you will become. Start by following his recipe for basic pizza dough.
2. Make sure that the dough has enough moisture. Once it's well combined, knead it with both hands in a counterclockwise motion until it's very smooth like a baby's bottom.
3. Coat the bottom and top of the dough in olive oil and place in a bowl with a damp rag covering the top. It should double in size.
4. Knock it out of the bowl, and with a scale, measure out 4-5 ounces of dough. Knead it with both hands again, then form into a ball. Oil all sides of the ball and place in a bowl to rise a second time. It should double in size.
5. Roll it out and bake on a floured baking sheet. If you want to freeze the dough, place it in the freezer right after the second rise.

Do you make homemade pizza dough? What's been your experience with it?

Source: Flickr User I'm George

In her YumSugar Community group, The Dairy Free Diva Recipe Exchange, reader girlA discusses all things vegan. Here, she provides a wonderfully in-depth review of Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Pizza Crust.

I've been wanting to try gluten-free pizza crust for quite some time now. I'd like to reduce to the amount of gluten I eat, so I was anxious to try this mix from Bob's Red Mill. The mix requires water, oil and eggs. However, it suggests using 2 tablespoons of flaxseed meal and water as an egg replacement. I used Ener-G Egg Replacer. The package also comes with a yeast packet. The crust makes 2 12″ pizzas, or one 26″ pizza. Since The Husband is in San Francisco for work, the Sixth Grader and me decided to make a couple of pizzas tonight.

Check out the rest of her thoughts after the break.

Anytime I bake a recipe that requires the rolling of dough (pizza, pie, cracker, etc.), I get a little scared. What can I say? Dough is intimidating. That's why, whenever I can make it easier on myself, I do! Many recipes will have you place the rolled, ready-to-be-baked dough on parchment paper. When this happens, I recommend rolling the dough out directly on the parchment paper. None of the dough gets stuck to the kitchen counter. To move the rolled dough to the pan, you simply lift the entire thing, parchment paper included.

Do you have a trick for dealing with dough? Please share it with us below!