Cast Iron Skillet Pizza

Pizza Sunday!

While randomly looking on foodgawker again, I stumbled across a recipe for pizza in a cast iron skillet. I don't own one, but luckily a friend does and let me borrow it to try another recipe!

The pizza dough was surprisingly easy to make and roll. The final result was okay, I think I cooked the pizza for too long though.

Also, I did not take the time to make the sauce from scratch. I just used Ragu pizza sauce. But, the site where I got the recipe did include a recipe for sauce.

Cast Iron Skillet Pizza

recipe from Macheesmo

Crust:
-2 1/2 Cups bread flour
-1 scant Tablespoon sugar
-2 Teaspoons kosher salt
-3/4 Teaspoon active dry yeast
-1 1/2 Tablespoons olive oil
-1 scant Cup warm water

Sauce:
-Ragu Homemade Pizza Sauce

Toppings:
-8-10 ounces mozzarella cheese
-Italian Seasoning

For the dough, mix together water, sugar, salt, and yeast in a bowl.  Stir it together and let it sit for a few minutes until yeast is dissolved and foaming a bit.  Then add in your flour and stir it together.

Use a hand dipped in water to vigorously work the dough into a ball.

As you work the dough, you might notice that it’s too wet or too dry.  If it is too dry, add a few extra tablespoons of water.  The dough should be pretty moist and flexible.  If it seems firm, let it rest and relax for five minutes, then continue to work it.

After about 8 minutes of kneading it, you should have a very soft ball of dough  

Coat the dough well in olive oil and place it in a plastic bag.  If you’re using the dough the same day, let it rise for an hour at room temperature, then take it out and de-gas it.  Reshape it and store it in the fridge for at least 2 hours.

Then take it out of the fridge at least an hour before you need it.

When ready for the pizza, roll the dough into a large circle and just plop it in the center of your skillet.  You don’t need to oil the skillet or anything.  

Once the dough is in your skillet, use a knife to cut off any extra dough, leaving about an inch of dough up the side of the skillet  Then use your fingers to kind of just fold the dough over itself, forming a crust.

Add a light coating of sauce to the pizza.  Then add on the cheese and Italian seasonings.

Place the skillet on a burner and turn the heat to HIGH and cook for 3 minutes. This won't cook the pizza, but will heat the skillet.

Then move the skillet to a 450 degree oven and continue to cook it until the crust is browned and the cheese melted.  I cooked the pizza for 15 minutes.

When your pizza comes out of the oven, you should be able to get a spatula and just slide the pizza right out of the pan! Let it cool for a few moments and cool.