Add all ingredients to a bowl. Mix together by hand or with a mixer until a dough is formed and all ingredients are incorporated with no flour left sticking to the sides of the bowl. Dough will be slightly stiff and won’t quite stick to your hands. Cover bowl with a towel. Let rest for 30 minutes.

On a lightly floured surface, knead dough 5–6 times, return to bowl, cover, then let dough rise in a warm location for 4 hours. The dough will look slightly larger but not doubled in size.

Shape the dough into 4 dough balls, about 250 grams each. Place in a covered dough tray or sheet pan covered with a towel and refrigerate 24 hours. 

Take dough out of refrigerator 2 hours before you plan to make the pizzas, to bring to room temperature. Leave covered until ready to shape.

With your hands or a rolling pin on lightly floured surface, shape dough into 12-inch round pizza pies. For thinner pie, stretch to 14 inches; for thicker pie, 10 inches.

When placing ingredients on shaped pies, leave dough on floured cutting board for easy transfer to pizza stone. If you have a pizza paddle, all the better!

Making The Pizza:

Set the oven to the hottest possible temperature, 525–550°F; if your oven doesn’t go that high, use high broil. Put baking stone in oven to preheat for 30 minutes to an hour.

Layer ingredients as desired onto the pizza dough (see Chef’s Note for basil). Carefully transfer loaded pies to baking stone or alternative heating surface.

Bake each pizza on baking stone for 5–7 minutes, or until cheese is melted and crust is golden.

Chef’s Notes:

1. If you don’t have a pizza stone, an inverted baking sheet or a large cast-iron pan can be used instead.

2. To prevent the basil from burning, either add it before adding the cheese or after the pizza is baked.                                                 

3. Feel free to add additional fresh seasonal ingredients after cooking, as desired: arugula, fresh sliced tomatoes, red onions, etc.