I make not a pizza but something which is a similar idea, although a little breadier below and without cheese. Called a 'coca', it can also be described as a Mallorcan pizza. It needs no special pan, other than an oblong oven tray or cookie sheet and no stone in the oven and is simple to make. This is one version of the delicious cocas prepared on the Spanish Balearic Islands. They are sold in nearly every bakery and are often eaten out of hand while standing up in the bakery, as a breakfast on the way to work, or as an afternoon snack on the way home or after school. They are usually eaten at room temperature and make wonderful side dishes for a cold summer buffet, picnic or evening snack. There are many variations of coca and in winter the peppers may be substituted by Swiss chard or spinach and without tomatoes. Here is one recipe which is also know as 'Coca de Trempó'. Often the red peppers are skinned and in strips, and accompanied on top of the coca by artichoke hearts, olives and anchovies. This would be called 'Coca Amb Pebres', where 'pebres' are the red peppers in the Mallorquin dialect. Vegetable Tart - Coca de Verduras (From the Island of Mallorca) Ingredients for 4 people: 4 cups (500 grams) all purpose flour 1 oz (25 grams) fresh yeast or 1 pkg dry yeast 4 TBS olive oil 1/4 cup (2 oz or 50 grams) lard 3 medium Italian sweet green peppers or green bell peppers cut in small pieces 3 spring onions - cut in small pieces including all the stalk 3 ripe medium sized tomatoes- sliced finely 1 clove of garlic - sliced finely 1 handful of Italian flatleaf parsley, chopped 1 TBS of sweet red paprika salt water - 1 cup lukewarm 1) Turn on the oven and set temperature at 375 F (191 C) 2) Put the warm water in a mixing bowl (preferrable one of porcelain or terracotta) and dissolve the yeast in it. 3) Add the lard and the olive oil. Add the flour gradually, mixing in by hand until the mixture leaves the side of the bowl. 4) Form a ball and let it rest for a few minutes while you prepare the vegetables. 5) Chop and slice vegetables into a large bowl, add the paprika and some salt and mix all together. 6) Lightly oil either a round pan of about 13" diameter (32 Cm) or a rectangular pan 13" x 11" (32 Cm x 27 Cm) both with a depth of approx 1/2 inch (1 cm). A cookie sheet or oven tray would be ideal. 7) Place dough in centre and carefully stretch it out with palms of hands, patting to fit pan, keeping an even thickness. It should be thin. 8) Arrange vegetables evenly on top of the dough, drizzling at the same time with olive oil and salt. 9) Put coca into oven for about 1 hour or until crust is lightly golden and vegetables are cooked. After taking it out of the oven, drizzle a little more olive oil on top. 10) You can eat this hot or cold. In winter the vegetables may be swiss chard or spinach, substituting the peppers, but also used raw and finely chopped. Source: translated from "Cocina Balear" Ana Maria Calera Editorial Everest - Leon (España) SharonCb

Colleen, Here is the recipe for Julia Child's French Baguettes. On my days off each week, I usually make a double batch of this bread dough. The dough goes into the fridge after it's first rise and is left for two to three days. This long cold fermentation develops more flavour and texture in the bread and makes the perfect dough for a pizza crust. Thin crust with a light,airy, chewy rim. How I Make My Pizza Home Cookin Chapter: Recipes From Thibeault's Table French Baguette =============== Julia Child 1 package dry active yeast (2 1/2 teaspoons) 3 1/2 cups unbleached flour (bread flour) (NOTE: I use 4 cups) 2 1/4 tsp salt 1 1/3 cups cold water plus 1/3 or so additional water Place the flour, yeast and salt in the bowl of the food process. Pulse to mix. Add 1 1/3 cups of water and process until the dough comes together. If the dough doesn't form a ball, add a little of the extra water. Process for about 60 seconds, turn off machine and let dough rest for 5 minutes. Turn on the machine again and rotate the dough about 30 times under the cover, and then remove it to a lightly floured work surface. it should be fairly smooth and quite firm. Let the dough rest for 2 minutes and then knead roughly and vigorously. The final dough should not stick to your hands as you knead (although it will stick if you pinch and hold a piece); it should be smooth and elastic and, when you hold it up between your hands and stretch it down, it should hold together smoothly. Preliminary rise - 40 to 60 minutes at around 75F. Place the dough into a clean dry bowl, (do not grease the bowl), cover with plastic wrap, and set in a warm place free from drafts. (note the French do not grease the bowl because they believe the dough needs a seat to push up from). This first rise is sufficient when the dough has definitely started to rise and is about 1 1/2 times its original volume. Deflating: Turn the dough onto your lightly floured work surface roughly and firmly pat and push it out into a 14 inch rectangle. Fold one of the long sides over toward the middle, and the other long side over to cover it, making a 3 layer cushion. Repeat the operation. This important step redistributes the yeast throughout the dough, for a strong second rise. Return the dough smooth side up the bowl; cover with plastic wrap and again set to rise. Final rise in the bowl - about 1 to 1 1/2 hours or longer. The bread should be 2 1/2 to 3 times its original bulk. It is the amount of rise that is important here, not the timing. To Shape, Cut the dough in half. Set one piece aside and cover with a towel. On a lightly floured work surface pat the dough into a 14 inch rectangle, squaring it up as evenly as you can. Fold the rectangle of dough in half lengthwise and using the heel of your hand, firmly press the edges together whether they meet. Seat well. Pound the dough flat. Now repeat - patting the dough out again and folding it over and sealing the edges. Pinch the edges well and Rotate the dough so that the sealed edge in on the bottom. Repeat with second piece of dough. Cover with plastic wrap or loosely with a towel and let rise to more than double again at about 75°f. Place stone in oven and Preheat oven to 450°F. Slash three long cuts into the loaves and place on the hot stone. Immediately toss a number of ice cubes on to the bottom on the oven to create steam. Bake until bread is golden and has an interior temp of 200°F. Takes about 30 minutes. Making Dough in a Mixer or by Hand When you are making dough in an electric mixer with a dough hook, proceed in the same general way with the rests indicated, and finish by hand. or mix the dough by hand in a bowl, turn out on a work surface, and start the kneading by lifting it up with a scraper and slapping it down roughly for several minutes until it has body. Let it rest several minutes and then proceed to knead. This is the recipe I use as a basic outline. I use it more as a guideline. I have a Magic Mill that I use to do most of the kneading. I still like to finish kneading by hand.

Trudy, Thank you. What a nice thing to say. I have three different sizes of the Dough Buckets. 3 quart, 4 quart and an 8 quart. Because I usually make a double batch of dough using at least 8 cups of flour, the largest one gets used the most. If you normally only use 4 cups of flour than go with the 4 quart. If you can find a local restaurant supply store that carries these containers they will cost you less than what King Arthur charges. Ann

I've been making soft deep pizza dough using some 'Herman' starter. http://www.cdkitchen.com/recipes/recs/388/HermanStarter14095.shtml I mix the pizza dough in my bread machine dough setting- start out with it on moist side and add remaining flour as needed for a soft but not sticky dough. 1 cup of the herman starter 1 cup of warmed water 2-3 Tbsp of olive oil about 3 cups flour - add 2 cups to start then add more as needed when mixing has started 1 pkg quick yeast tsp salt or as you like 2 tsp sugar or as you like onion or garlic powder if you like(for a flavored crust) turn on dough cycle adding more flour as needed for the dough to form a soft but no sticky ball and then let machine finish the cycle. gently remove risen dough from bread machine pan I lightly flour the pizza pan and put it on that- don't smash it, let sit a bit, then start to shape as a thick crust or place into a deep pan for very deep dish pizza. you want to keep those air bubbles be gentle. After it's shaped set aside while you finish preparing any toppings. a light coating of any sauce- tomato sauce or alfredo sauce with chicken, turkey, beef, canadian bacon , pepperoni anything you like. if toppings will be heavy precook the crust a bit before adding toppings. bake at approx 425* on next to lowest oven rack setting- till a golden brown and cheese is melted. let sit a short time to cool a bit before cutting or cheese will run all over. This is a loose recipe- I kind of made it up myself- but if you make bread very often you can do it. http://www.bettycrocker.com/ there is a deep dish recipe at betty crocker but the site is down so I couldn't searchit for you. Here is a link that might be useful: cd kitchen