In a large 5 to 6-quart bowl or lidded food container, add the yeast and salt to the lukewarm water. Give it a quick stir.

Mix in the flour all at one time with a large wooden spoon or preferrably, a Danish dough whisk. (You could also mix with a heavy-duty stand mixer with paddle or a 14-cup food processor, but not necessary.) No kneading is required or advisable. As you finish mixing, you may need to use wet hands to incorporate every last bit of flour.

Cover with a non-airtight lid. Allow the dough to rise at room temperature until it begins to flatten on top; about 2 hours. Do not punch down the dough! With this method, you're trying to retain as much gas in the dough as possible.

After rising, refrigerate the dough and use it over the next 14 days; the dough will develop sourdough characteristics over that time. Once refrigerated, the dough will collapse and will not rise again in the container - that's totally normal for this dough.

Before the first use, refrigerate the dough overnight (or for at least 3 hours) for ease in handling.

Place pizza stone on a shelf in the bottom third of the oven. Preheat oven to 500°F. Allow stone to preheat for a full 30 minutes.

Prepare your pizza peel with flour, cornmeal or parchment paper to prevent the pizza from sticking to the peel when sliding it onto the stone.

Sprinkle the surface of the refrigerated dough with flour. Pull up and cut off a piece of orange-sized dough that weighs about 8 ounces. A serrated knife or kitchen shears will be helpful.

Hold the dough in your hands, adding a little more flour as needed so that it doesn’t stick to your hands. Gently stretch the surface of the dough around the bottom all the way around, rotating the dough as you go to form a ball. Work quickly so that the entire process takes just 20 to 30 seconds. You don’t want to overwork the dough.

Flatten the dough with your hands then with a rolling pin directly on your prepared pizza peel. You may need to sprinkle additional flour as you go to prevent sticking. Roll the ball out into a 1/8-inch-thick round measuring about 12-inches across. (If the dough is resisting, just let it sit for about 5 minutes. It will then relax and allow you to work with it.) It's okay if the rolled out dough is not perfectly round in shape. Rustic is good.

Spread the tomato sauce over the dough, leaving about a half-inch border then add the basil and cheese. Drizzle a little olive oil over the pizza, if desired. As you add the toppings, continue to test for sticking by gently shaking the peel. If you are using a base of flour or cornmeal, the pizza should move freely. If it is sticking, use a dough scraper and some flour to free it.

If you are using parchment paper as a base, do not be concerned about the dough sticking. You will be transferring the prepared pizza to the preheated stone with the paper.

Place the tip of the peel near the back of the stone close to where you want the far edge of the pizza to land. Give the peel a few quick forward-and-back jiggles and pull it sharply out from under the pizza. If using parchment paper, the transfer to the stone will be an easy one. For maximum crispiness, you can remove the paper after about 4-minutes by using your peel to carefully lift the pizza enough to slide the paper out from under.

Check for doneness in 8 to 10-minutes. Using a spatula may be helpful in nudging the baked pizza back on to the peel. Allow the pizza to cool slightly, preferrably on a wire rack, so that the cheese sets properly. Enjoy!