robot_parade

First rule - heat is king. Set your oven, with the pizza stone in it, to its highest setting, and let it get hot - a good 30 minutes, at least.

For the dough, I don't have a recipe that I recall off the top of my head. I usually like to let whatever dough I make sit in the fridge over night, because I think the crust ends up easier to work ('relaxed' is the baking term, I think), and has a better flavor. I've also added some plain, unflavored yogurt (replacing a little bit of the water) to give it a nice tang.

Since you put the stone in the oven, you can't construct the pizza on the stone. This means you have to learn to use a pizza peel. This took me forever to get right, and a lot of ruined pizzas. Basically, don't be afraid of corn meal. After you toss/roll out the pizza dough, dump a massive quantity (well, a medium handful is probably fine) of cornmeal on one side, flip it over onto the peel, construct the pizza, and then 'flick' it onto the stone with the flick of the wrist technique that will probably take you several very funny looking pizzas to get right.

Don't use too much sauce. I think everyone, myself included, uses too much sauce at first. Too much, and the cheese/toppings will 'float' on a lake of sauce, and/or will flop right off the pizza when you flick it onto the stone.

Speaking of the sauce - I believe Mario Batalli has a fantastic basic tomato/pizza sauce. Google for his recipe. Add oregeno if you like. Whatever.

Cheese. I love me some mozzarella. I think Trader Joe's has a huge hunk (ie, not a rectangular-shaped brick) of mozzarella that's not too expensive, and really good. Other than that, use whatever you like. I think you'll be much happier using better cheese.

Toppings. I like it simple, like mozzarella, basil, and maybe some mushrooms if I'm feeling funky. But put whatever the hell you want on it. Its your pizza.

As mentioned before, after constructing, flick it onto the stone, and let it cook for 5 minutes or so before checking. If it stuck to the peel, you didn't use enough corn meal and/or your dough was too damp. Just smoodge it onto the stone as best you can without burning yourself, and try again next time.

After 5 minutes or so (maybe less or more depending on your oven), check on the pizza, and if it's done (if it looks done, it's done. If it's smoking, it's burnt), use the peel to take it out, cool it briefly on a wire rack (so the crust stays crisp), transfer to cutting board, cut, and serve.