3/4 cup warm water

1/4 teaspoon sugar

1 tablespoon active dry yeast or one envelope

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 1/2 - 2 cups plain flour, as needed

1 teaspoon salt I use kosher salt

1 teaspoon dried, crumbled oregano optional

1 teaspoon dried basil optional

Stir until combined into a sort of paste, and then beat vigorously for 100 strokes all in the same direction.  It sounds silly, but this is the basis for a very smooth dough, and it doesn't actually take very long at all.  A wooden spoon is ideal for the job.  Once your mixture is smooth and silky-looking, add the salt and 1 cup of flour.  If you are adding herbs, now is the time to do so.  Stir until the flour is mostly incorporated - it gets very stiff very quickly - and then turn out onto a clean counter to knead.  Add more flour if the dough seems sticky - add it a little at a time as you go along.

Knead the dough briskly for about five minutes, or until it comes together in a satiny ball and is no longer sticky.  Let the dough rest on the counter while you wash out the bowl that you started it in.  Wash and dry the bowl, and spritz with a little oil.  Place your dough into the bowl (turn it over once so that a little oil gets on the top) and cover with a towel while you slice toppings and grate cheese.  The dough doesn't need to rise double in size (although it's fine if it does) but it should show some signs of life when you get back to it - be softer and a little risen.

Prepare your toppings and turn the oven on to 450 F, with the rack placed in the middle.  Prepare a pizza pan by sprinkling a generous amount of cornmeal in a thin layer over it.

Press the dough out into a flat circle.  If the dough is still a bit tense, it might take a little longer, but this amount of dough will fit a full sized pizza pan.  Just be patient and keep pressing it out, even if it tries to spring back, or let it rest for 5 minutes and try again.  Once the dough is stretched to the full size of the pan, spread your pizza sauce over it, top judiciously, and bake for 12 - 15 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown and delicious.  Slide pizza onto cutting board and pretend you're going to share.  Don't burn your mouth.

Sauce

I don't care for store-bought pizza sauce, as most seem either sweet, bland, or both.  It only takes about a minute or two to whip up your own.  I use either a plain commercial tomato sauce that has been augmented with dried herbs and crushed fresh garlic, or a mixture of tomato paste and water, augmented with dried herbs and crushed fresh garlic.  The tomato paste version is lower in sodium, if you're watching that.  I don't add sugar (a common ingredient in commercial pizza sauces) but sometimes I'll add a shot of Tabasco, or a little kalamata olive juice.  3/4 cup to 1 cup of any given sauce will do nicely.  If you're going with the tomato paste version, half of one small can (two generous tablespoons) mixed with enough water to make a sauce-consistency will suffice. 

Pizza sauce need not be entirely about the tomato sauce, either.  Pesto makes an excellent pizza sauce, especially for a very simple cheese pizza, as do a variety of white sauces - though they tend to be more time consuming.  Even a brushing of olive oil and some fresh herbs make a nice change.  Most of the time, though, I use the classic tomato sauce.

Toppings

It took me a long time to learn restraint in pizza toppings.  Quite simply, pizzas are at their best when they are simple.  Choose a few toppings, go easy on the cheese, and let the simple flavours come through.  Though carefully planned out combinations can make fantastic pizzas, the truth is that you can use pizza to clear out the fridge, too.  A little leftover salami, half a bell pepper, heck, even leftover supper dishes can be used to make pizza.  One of my most notorious pizzas was made from left over Lapin Dijon - I used the creamy mustard wine sauce in place of tomato sauce, finely shredded the rabbit meat, added a few rings of green pepper and a sprinkle of mozzarella.  It was a huge it.

Special notes on toppings

Mushrooms: sweat them in a frying pan first, so they don't give up their juices on the pizza and turn it into soup.

Peppers & Onions:  slice thinly.  Thick ones will still be raw in the short cooking time, awkward to slice and eat.

Cheese:  You really don't need a mountain of cheese.  Put half what you think you need, and give it a whirl.  It's healthier, cheaper, and quite possibly better.  Try a variety of different cheeses.  Try feta.  Monterey jack. Good ol' sharp cheddar.  Blue.  Be bold!

My secret weakness in pizza, despite my better intentions, is cheeseburger pizza.  Brown up a small amount of ground beef (or a large amount, and reserve the rest for another use) with chopped onion, garlic and Worcestershire sauce.  Add mushrooms if you like.  Before you put the sauce on the pizza, add a thin, thin layer of mustard - use a pastry brush so it's very thin indeed - and sprinkle the meat mixture over it.  Add a couple of sliced kalamata olives, if you like, and cover with sharp cheddar cheese.  Pickles on the side.  Yum!