Easy Cast Iron Pan Pizzas with Perfect Crust
An easy, at home way to make & enjoy crisp, bubbly, golden brown pan-style pizzas
Ingredients
For The Pizza Dough
- 2 1/2 cups bread flour
- 2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp instant yeast
- 1 cup + 3 tbsp water
For The Pizzas
- 4 tbsp oil, olive or canola work best- NOT extra virgin, divided
- 1 1/2 cups thick pizza sauce, divided
- 2 cups shredded mozzarella
- 1/2 cup pepperoni slices
- 5-6 basil leaves, chiffonade & divided
Instructions
To Make The Dough
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, mix together all of the dough ingredients until completely evenly combined. Cover the mixing bowl tightly with cling wrap, and let the dough rise at least 8 hours but up to 24 hours.
- Add 2 tbsp of oil to a 12" cast iron skillet, and add the remaining oil to a second similarly sized skillet. Use a brush to spread the oil evenly out of the surface so it's completely coated.
- Divide the risen dough into 2 even pieces. Pull the dough apart at the sides to stretch it. Tuck the ends into the bottom turn the dough 1/4 turn, roll it around in your hands to form a ball. Repeat 2x until you're left with an even ball.
- Roll the dough gently in the skillet until completely coated in oil, ending up with the smoothest side down. Use the palm of your hand to gently flatten and spread the dough out a few inches, but not so it covers the whole pan. Repeat for the second ball of dough and the second skillet. Cover both again, tightly with cling wrap, and let the dough rise another 2 hours- undisturbed and at room temp.
To Make The Pizzas
- Preheat your oven to 500-550 degrees, whichever of the two it will go to. The dough should have almost spread to the edges of the skillet. Gently help it along pulling it up slightly and out so that it's at, or very nearly at, all the edges. Gently push down any large air bubbles.
- Spoon half of the dough out over each pie, using the back to spread it out evenly but leaving a small edge of crust plain all the way around. Sprinkled a cup of cheese evenly out over each of the pies. Top evenly with pepperoni slices. Take half of the basil, divide it in half, and sprinkle evenly out over each pie. Set the remaining half aside.
- Immediately transfer the pizzas to your hot oven, baking for 12-20 minutes-depending on desired done-ness/brow-ness of crusts. Let the pizzas rest 2 minutes.
- Using 2 flat spatulas, carefully transfer them to cutting boards. Sprinkle the remaining basil evenly out over both pies. Let the pizzas rest another 5 minutes before slicing and serving.
Notes
recipe adapted from Foodie With Family