Basic Cheese Pizza

Ingredients:

• 1/4 ounce dry yeast
• 1 cup water, lukewarm
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 3 cups bread flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 cup tomato puree
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 tablespoon fresh basil, chopped
• 4 ounces fresh mozzarella cheese
Directions:

1. 1Dough:.
2. 2In a glass or plastic bowl, combine yeast, water, and sugar (the water can just be water from the tap, make sure it's below 100°F).
3. 3Stir to dissolve the yeast and let the yeast "bloom" for 15 minutes.
4. 4Stir in 1 cup flour, add salt, and then stir in another cup of flour (the remaining cup of flour will be your "bench" flour and added flour).
5. 5Dump mixture onto kneading board and work in last cup of flour, kneading until dough is soft and elastic, but not sticky. Form dough into a ball.
6. 6In another bowl, pour in the 1 tbsp olive oil and spread around.
7. 7Coat ball of dough with oil and cover bowl with a damp towel and let dough rise for 40 minutes.
8. 8Punch down dough and knead on board about 2 minutes. Dough is now ready to spread in the pan.
9. 9To avoid sticking of crust, lightly spray pizza pan with olive oil or vegetable oil spray and then work dough to pan (or use free form pan) - this dough is enough for 1 14-in pizza with a thin bottom crust and enough dough around the edge to munch.
10. 10Sauce:.
11. 11Combine pureed tomatoes, tomato paste, minced garlic, and basil.
12. 12Spread onto prepared pizza dough.
13. 13Top with sliced mozzarella cheese and bake at 500°F for 11-13 minutes.