Home made New York-style pizza

One of the famous culinary delights is making of pizza, and my favorite ofcourse is New York style pizza with very thin crust crisp middle you can savor and catch the taste of the bread and the heap and cheesiness of the sauce more flavored with basil and olive oil.

New York-style pizza originated in New York City in the early 1900s, and in 1905, the first pizza establishment in the United States was opened in New York's Little Italy. It is known for its large, wide, thin, and fold-able yet crispy shape.The pizza is sold by the slice and as a whole pie, and is particularly popular in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. Regional variations exist in Northeast and other states in the U.S.

Lucky me, this is a no frills pizza so making it at home ain't just for experts.

Yields: 1 large or 2 small pizzas

Prep Time: 2 hours

Total Time: 2 hours

Ingredients:

2 1/4 teaspoon (1 package) instant dry active yeast

1 cup warm water (not hot!)

1/2 tablespoon sugar

3 cups bread flour, or as needed

2 tablespoon olive oil

1 1/2 teaspoon salt

Preparation:

Add the water, yeast, sugar, and a 1/2 cup of the flour into a mixing bowl. Stir well and let sit for 20 minutes. It will get bubbly. 

Add olive oil, salt, and 2 cups of the flour, and mix with a wooden spoon until it's together enough to turn out on to a lightly floured work surface to knead.

Knead for about 10 minutes, while adding more flour a little at a time, to produce a soft, elastic and slightly sticky dough. Do not add too much flour, just enough to keep it from sticking to the work surface as you knead. 

Form the dough into a ball and place in a large oiled bowl. Drizzle a few drops of oil and coat the top of dough to prevent the surface from becoming dry. 

Cover with a kitchen towel and place in a warm spot for 2 hours, or until the dough doubles in size. 

Punch down the dough and divide into 2 balls and place in large zip lock plastic bags and refrigerate overnight. (But in my case, since my nephews couldn't wait, i set aside the dough for just an hour). Though foldable crust is best achieved with a cold rise in refrigerator.

Before use, let the dough come up to room temperature before using.

Preheat oven to 500 degrees F. Divide the dough in half. Dust pizza peel or baking sheet with flour or cornmeal and roll the dough. Brush pizza dough with 2 tablespoons olive oil. Spread 1 cup homemade tomato sauce (blended cherry tomatoes, garlic, olive oil, pepper, salt and basil) evenly over dough.Sprinkle 1/4 cup basil leaves on top of sauce then-after sprinkle parmigiano if you have or an ordinary Eden cheese topped with Quickmelt Eden Cheese as Mozarella is not available in most local stores in PH. Oven for  8 to 10 minutes until cheese is bubbling and the edges are golden brown.