This pizza dough can be made in a heavy mixer with a hook attachment, a food processor, or by hand if you really want to go all out.
1. To make the dough in a mixer or processor, put the sugar and 1/3 cup of the water into a small bowl. Add the yeast, making sure all the yeast granules get wet, and let the mixture stand for about 10 minutes. Pour the mixture into the mixer or food processor and add the olive oil, flour, and salt. Run the processor or the mixer on lowest speed until the dough forms a ball, adding more flour or water by the tablespoon if the mixture seems too dry or wet. Knead the dough in the mixture for about 5 minutes, less if your flour is quite old. If you are using a processor, process the dough for about 20 seconds after it forms a ball.
2. If you are making the dough by hand, follow the directions for the yeast as above, but insead of using a small bowl, use a large bowl. Add the oil, flour and salt to the yeast bowl and blend with a spoon until a doughy mixture forms. Knead the dough on a floured surface, adjusting the flour or water as necessary. Keep kneading the dough until it is smooth and elastic, about 5 to 10 minutes.
3. #for all methods#
Oil a deep bowl with a couple of tablespoons of olive oil. Put the dough into the bowl and turn it to coat with the oil. Let the dough rise, covered with a clean towl or plastic wrap, in a warm place for about an hour until it is doubled in bulk. Punch down the dough and prepair to bake! This recipe makes enough dough for 4 single-size pizzas or 1 baking sheet-sized pizza. Bake pizzas at 450F for about 10 minutes.

*if you want to make whole wheat crust pizza, substitute 2/3 cup whole-wheat flour for 2/3 cup of the white flour.