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This evening I tweeted what I was having for dinner,

“Dinner from scratch: wh wheat oregano/rosemry pizza crust, garlic tomato sauce, spinach, mushrooms, kalamata olives, goat cheese, pepperoni”

and @blendlab asked if there were any leftovers.  It was too hard to transmit pizza over Twitteriffic, but I offered to share the crust recipe.

Here is the original recipe from the beautiful Giada DeLaurentiis, followed by my modification of the ingredients:

3/4 cup warm water (105°F to 115°F)
1 envelope active dry yeast (equivalent of 2 1/4 tsp)

1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour, plus 1/4 set aside for kneading if necessary
1 teaspoon sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 tbsp dried oregano
2 tsp dried rosemary
3 tablespoons olive oil

The original recipe called for a total of two cups of flour, but I find that using whole wheat flour results in more flour gluten, requiring less. I keep the extra 1/4 cup of flour nearby if the dough is too sticky when kneading though. I add the oregano and rosemary at the same time as the salt when following the same procedure as the original recipe. It’s tempting to add garlic or at least dehydrated garlic to the crust for flavor, but as it is an antifungal it will harm the yeast and the dough won’t rise as well. Lastly, I don’t use a food processor for making dough. I just use a large broad spoon, and get my hands into the dough as soon as the flour is stirred in.

Here is the procedure, copied and pasted:

Pour 3/4 cup warm water into small bowl; stir in yeast. Let stand until yeast dissolves, about 5 minutes.

Brush large bowl lightly with olive oil. Mix flour, sugar, and salt in processor. Add yeast mixture and 3 tablespoons oil; process until dough forms a sticky ball. Transfer to lightly floured surface. KNEAD dough until smooth, adding more flour by tablespoonfuls if dough is very sticky, about 1 minute. Transfer to prepared bowl; turn dough in bowl to coat with oil. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let dough rise in warm draft-free area until doubled in volume, about 1 hour. PUNCH down dough. DO AHEAD Can be made 1 day ahead. Store in airtight container in refrigerator. ROLL out dough according to recipe instructions. (Start in center of dough, working outward toward edges but not rolling over them.)

Makes two pizzas. Bake at 475F for 15 minutes.

Enjoy!