Cast Iron Skillet Pizza
Crispy AND doughy thanks to the stovetop-to-oven method.
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Pizza delivery is a great thing, but it can be so fun to make your own. And if you’re partial to a crispy-edged deep-dish style pie, this method is a great way to go about it. Thanks to a hot cast iron skillet, you get a crust that’s both crispy AND doughy and while we’ve topped it with a very generous amount of pepperoni and mozzarella, there are about a million and one ways to switch it up.
Just look at that thick and sturdy crust! It’s easy to achieve thanks to the stovetop-to-oven cooking method. You just mix together some flour, salt, sugar, yeast and warm water and give it all some kneading until it’s nice and smooth and then let the dough rise until it’s doubled in size. (Which should take about an hour.)
Once it’s ready, you’re going to press it out into the bottom of a cast iron skillet and start cooking it on the stovetop. Over a low heat, you let it cook for about fifteen minutes before you start topping it.
The sauce goes on next, and unlike other pizzas, you want to spread it edge to edge.
Same thing with the cheese; you don’t need to leave a ring of crust at all.
Pepperoni is next and then the whole skillet goes into a very hot oven.
The edges get wonderfully crispy and the dough rises up into a fluffy but sturdy base. Using the cast iron skillet makes shaping the dough so much easier, and you don’t have to worry about pizza peels or pizza stones or anything that might feel remotely tricky.
If you’re looking for a thin crust pizza, then this is probably not your best option, but if you’re a fan of thick and doughy pizza and crispy blackened edges, then this is a great way to do your next pizza night!
Cast Iron Skillet Pizza
For the dough:
- 2 cups bread flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup warm water (105°F to 115°F)
- 1 envelope active dry yeast
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
For the toppings:
- 1 (16 oz) jar pizza sauce
- 1 tablespoon garlic powder
- 1 1/2 tablespoons Italian seasoning
- 1 tablespoon fennel seeds
- 1 (6 oz) package sliced pepperoni
- 4 cups mozzarella cheese, grated
Preparation
- In a large bowl, combine bread flour, salt, sugar and mix together.
- In another bowl, heat up water for 30 seconds. Stir yeast into warm water and let sit 5 minutes. Add yeast mixture and olive oil to flour. Mix with hands until a sticky ball forms.
- On a lightly floured surface, knead dough until smooth, about 3 minutes. Add additional flour if the ball is still sticky.
- Coat a large bowl with olive oil and place dough in it. Drizzle dough with a little bit more olive oil and cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let rest at room temperature until dough has doubled in size, about 1 hour. Dough can be made 1 day ahead.
- Once dough is ready, preheat the oven 500°F.
- Coat a cast-iron skillet with olive oil, about 1 tablespoon.
- Place dough in skillet and gently stretch out with fingers to the size of the skillet. Drizzle with olive oil, cover skillet with foil, and let sit at room temperature for 20 - 30 minutes.
- Place skillet over lowest heat on stovetop. Rotate every few minutes to heat all sides. After 15 minutes, turn off heat.
- Top with pizza sauce and season with garlic powder, fennel seeds, and 1 tablespoon of the Italian seasoning. Top with cheese, making sure that cheese covers entire crust. Top with remaining Italian seasoning and pepperoni.
- Bake until cheese is crispy on the edges, about 15-30 minutes, checking and rotating skillet every 10 minutes. Enjoy!
Recipe adapted from Epicurious.