It seems like everyone has their own definition of great pizza but for me there are only two choices.....either thick dough-y sicilian crust or very thin and crunchy. While my taste encompassed both extreme ends of the pizza spectrum (chicago style however is "too" thick) I recently found a recipe that was the perfect rendition of the thin crust that I love and can't even tell you the last time I have had anything else. I have been making a version of the dough found on 101 cookbooks for a few weeks now and I just can't stop. Unfortunately no matter who writes the instructions I can't toss the dough and end up mixing stretching and rolling. I am a bit lazy though and just sort of mix all the ingredients together and it never really seems to rise too much (just a bit of puffing up) but it tastes perfect and delicious to me. Plus my new hand mixer that has a dough hook attachment means I don't even have to take out my kitchen aid!
Best Pizza Crust
4.5 c AP flour
1.75 tsp salt
1 tsp instant rise yeast (about 1/2 of a packet)
1.5 c very cold water
1/4 c olive oil
1) combine all ingredients and mix together until ball of dough forms
2) cut into 3 pieces and form into balls
3) coat balls in oil and either place in freezer or refrigerate overnight
4) 2 hrs before using remove from refrigerator (or 24 hrs before if frozen)
to cook toss into a round or roll out and top (I used the basics for this particular pre-superbowl trial but this crust can stand up to many toppings!) and bake at 400F for 20 min