Basic Pizza Dough

Put yeast into the warm water and let it sit for five minutes. Let it dissolve and then stir it all up.

Add in the salt, olive oil, the 1/2 cup of cheese, and 1 1/2 cups of flour. Begin mixing until fully mixed and add up to another cup and a half of flour.

Knead by hand until smooth. You can also use a stand mixer. When the dough is smooth, spray a bowl with some cooking oil or olive oil and cover. Let rise about an hour. Punch down.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

One recipe makes two thin crust pizzas or one larger thicker crust pizza. When making a single pizza, cook longer.

Optional variations: This is also a good dough to make into breadsticks. Shape into breadsticks and sprinkle more Parmesan on top.

Add herbs typically used in Italian cooking like oregano and basil into the dough.

Brush melted butter along the crust before cooking.