Basic Pizza or Foccacia Yeast Dough

Foccacia topped with sunflower seeds, golden flax seeds, sesame seeds, Kosher salt and cayenne flakes.

I took a quick poll of the vegans I know to find out how they felt about ‘yeast’ in a vegan food.  The opinions were mostly positive so I have included this recipe in the vegan section.

1/2 cup of warm water (110F)

1/4 teaspoon of sugar

2 teaspoons of active dry yeast

Add the sugar to the warm water.  Sprinkle the yeast over the surface.  When the yeast has dissolved and become foamy, add:

2 teaspoons of olive oil

In a separate bowl combine:

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup of flour

Combine the two bowls and mix.  When the dough is ready, lightly flour a work surface and knead for approximately 8 minuets until smooth and elastic.  Place dough in an oiled bowl and roll dough to coat surface with oil.  Allow to rise to double in size, approximately 90 minutes.

Pre-heat oven to 500F.  Knead dough again to remove air pockets and form a smooth dough.  Pat dough into a circle that is about 1o-12 inches wide.  I used a wrought iron crepe pan to bake my focaccia but a pizza stone, cookie sheet, etc. may be used.  Bake for 12-14 minutes turning at about 6 minutes.