Place a pizza stone (or baking steel, if you have one) in the oven and preheat the oven to 500°F (or as hot as your oven will safely go, 475°F if that’s the max). Getting the surface very hot helps the crust crisp underneath.

Activate Yeast & Combine Wet Ingredients

In a large bowl, combine the warm water, sugar, and yeast. If using active dry yeast, let it proof for about 5 minutes until foamy. If using instant yeast, you can skip the waiting — it mixes right in.

Add the flour (start with 3½ cups, add more only if needed), olive oil, and salt. Stir together with a wooden spoon or in a stand mixer with a dough hook until the mixture forms a rough dough.

Knead the dough—about 5 minutes in a stand mixer, or 6–7 minutes by hand—until it’s smooth, elastic, and slightly sticky, but manageable. You want gluten to develop for chew and structure.

Lightly oil a clean bowl, form the dough into a ball, place it in the bowl, and turn to coat in oil. Cover with plastic wrap or a clean cloth. Let it rise for 30 minutes or up to 1 hour 30 minutes depending on room temperature, until it has doubled in size.

Punch down the dough gently. Divide into 2 or 3 dough balls (or more if making personal pizzas). Let the dough rest briefly (5–10 minutes) so it relaxes, which makes stretching or rolling easier.

Roll or stretch each dough ball out to about ¼″ thickness (or thinner if you like thin crust). Add your sauce, mozzarella, and your favorite toppings.

Transfer to the preheated pizza stone or baking surface. Bake for 5–10 minutes until the crust is golden brown, cheese is melted and bubbly, and edges have nice crispness.

Let pizza rest a minute or two so toppings set, then cut and serve.