Making a pizza on a cast iron skillet is easy and quite fun to do and if you have not done it yet then make sure to read this post on How to Make Pizza on a Cast Iron Skillet as it can help you cook amazing pizzas.
Making a great pizza does not limit you from using only brick ovens. In fact, that is only one way and there are several other ways where you can make the same quality of a pizza.
Using your cast iron skillet is one way. Most people would prefer a baking stone but cast iron skillet does just well because of its great heat retention.
A great pizza for me is the one with a crispy crust and does not lose its shape when you lift a slice off of the table.
A cast-iron skillet can make this kind of pizza because of its amazing heat retention and it radiates heat very well.
Making sure that your pizza is cooked all the way through.
Using the cast-iron skillet in the oven mimics a true brick oven as it uses a great amount of heat to make that crispy rust that everybody loves.
In this recipe guide, we will show two ways of how you can make great pizzas with your cast-iron skillet in no time.
Sure, it takes a lot of practice before you can make the perfect pizza but it would not take long if you do it right.
You can learn how to make a great one here. Just follow the following instructions.
Making Pizza on a Cast-Iron Skillet
Making pizza on a cast-iron skillet is not as hard as it sounds. You can simply prepare your pizza out of the skillet and cook it in no time.
Cast-iron skillets are very great in retaining heat. Usually, the skillet is preheated along with the oven.
You can use the skillet to cook ingredients or toppings that usually take long periods of time to cook such as thick pieces of meat.
You can preheat the skillet on the stove or in the oven itself.
Cooking pizza in a skillet is simple since it has the shape already so you only need to place the dough on the skillet.
Put on your sauce and toppings and then it is ready to go into the preheated oven. Once you put it inside, it will only take around 13 to 15 minutes and then your pizza is ready.
However, the real question that arises is the fact that you need to reheat the skillet for some time and if you are ready to wait for 15-20 minutes to get the skillet hot enough just to reheat leftover pizza slices.
It would be better to reheat the pizza on a pan if you are in a hurry. But if you are looking for perfection then pulling out your iron skillet might not be a bad idea.
Moreover, the iron skillet works amazingly with reheating frozen pizzas that you find in supermarkets. The skillet helps you get the perfect brown crispy base which is
First, the Dough…
In making a pizza, you can start having fun by making the dough yourself and use the following recipe.
There is also no shame in buying a store-bought pizza dough if you really want to make a pizza on the spot.
Here are the ingredients that you will need:
Dry Ingredients
-16 ounces of flour
-Half teaspoon yeast
-One and a half teaspoon salt
-Half teaspoon sugar
Wet Ingredients
-11 ounces of water
-1 tablespoon vegetable oil
Procedure:
First, take all the dry ingredients and mix them in a food processor for at least a minute in order to make sure that all the ingredients are mixed well.
Add the water and mix it all again until you reach a consistent mixture with no dry spots on the dough.
Then you can take it out of the food processor and knead the dough by hand. Add the vegetable oil so it would not stick to the surface or on your hands.
You can add flour if you want but I find it better when using the oil so it adds fats to the pizza dough.
You can cut the dough into smaller pieces, shape them like a ball to keep all the yeast and the process inside the dough and then place them on a pan.
Cover the dough with a plastic wrap and then refrigerate. Make sure to do this at least a day before using the dough.
This is to make sure that the yeast inside the dough has been activated and the gluten has been processed so you can knead the dough easily.
An unprocessed dough is harder to knead because the gluten strands are still sewn together. That is why a fresh dough always comes back to shape and you cannot spread it easily.
In this recipe, I used a 10-inch cast-iron skillet so the 16 ounces of dough were too much. If you have a larger skillet then you can use a larger amount of dough.
But for this one, I only used 12 ounces to make a 10-inch pizza.
The Sauce
You can use a store-bought marinara in this recipe or you can follow this recipe:
Ingredients:
-Tomatoes at least 4 pieces
-Half a teaspoon of sugar
-Half a teaspoon of salt
-Dried oregano and chili flakes one tablespoon each
Use a blender and make a paste out of the tomatoes. Make sure that you leave no chunks of tomato by mixing it thoroughly in the blender.
Although having chunks of tomatoes will not affect the quality of the sauce. After the blender, put the paste on a pan with medium to low heat.
Add the other ingredients and wait for it to simmer before covering. You can add water if you want a slightly less dense sauce.
Regularly stir the pan to avoid burns at the bottom.
In this recipe, I only used ¾ cup of a store-bought marinara since it perfectly fits the toppings I was going to use.
The Toppings
Ingredients
– 8 ounces of Italian sweet sausages
-Fennel bulb sliced very thinly
-4 garlic cloves sliced very thinly
-¾ cup of ground low-moisture mozzarella
So, what you are going to do is cook the Italian sweet sausages first on the cast-iron skillet. This is to make sure that they cook after putting the pizza in the oven.
The sausages take a longer time to cook so it makes sense to cook them first before putting all of the ingredients in the oven.
So, first, put a tablespoon of olive oil in a hot cast-iron skillet on medium heat. Make sure to wait for the skillet to heat up before putting the oil in.
Put the sausages in the skillet and break them down into smaller pieces using a wooden spatula. Wait until they turn golden brown and then place them on a bowl.
Pre-cooking
While preparing the pizza, preheat your oven for at least 20 minutes with a temperature of 475 degrees Fahrenheit.
While waiting for the oven to preheat, prepare the pizza dough that you made a day or two ago. Pour an ounce of oil on the 12-ounce dough and knead it.
Make a thin circular shape with the dough but make sure that there are no too thin areas so you can avoid holes on the dough.
With the same cast-iron skillet that you used to cook the sausages in, place the pizza dough carefully in it. Using a spoon, guide the dough so it touches the side of the skillet.
Get your marinara or your homemade sauce and then put a thin layer of it on the dough. Make sure that you do not put too much sauce so the dough will not sag after it has cooked.
Season it with salt before sprinkling the mozzarella on the dough. Make sure that you cover the entire surface of the dough.
Do not worry about cheese falling on the side of the skillet as it can also make a great tasting crust.
Put the sliced fennel on top of the cheese and then carefully place the sliced garlic cloves on top of the fennel.
Drizzle with two tablespoons of oil and then put the skillet back into the medium heat. Let it stay there until the bottom of the dough turns golden brown.
You can peek at the bottom by using tongs or a spatula. A well-seasoned skillet would not make the dough stick on it so do not worry about that.
This will take about 3 minutes of cooking time on the stove.
Cooking
Transfer the skillet into the preheated oven and place it on the top rack. This will take advantage of the circulation of heat inside the oven.
Since the heat radiates to the top of the oven, the heated cast-iron skillet will cook the pizza from the bottom and meets the heat from the top of the oven.
This will take around 10 to 11 minutes to cook the pizza perfectly. Or you can regularly take a look every 5 minutes until the cheese has melted and the crust is brown on some spots.
Finishing the pizza
Take the pizza out of the oven and put your finishing ingredients on the pizza. You can wait for 5 minutes to cool the pizza down.
Place the pizza on a board and add red pepper flakes and fresh basil leaves. You can also put a little bit of salt.
Drizzle the pizza with a very small amount of olive oil and slice it into six equal parts. Enjoy!
Check this video below to see a step-by-step guide on how to cook this recipe
That is one way of making pizza using your cast-iron skillet.
However, if you do not want extra oil on the skillet and you just want to bake the pizza right away, then we also have a recipe for that.
You can use the same dough and sauce recipe in this one as they do not really make a difference between these two techniques.
The main thing is you do not have to cook a topping first on the skillet before putting your dough on the skillet.
So, in this recipe, I used the same technique on making the dough and the sauce. The toppings, however, are a little different.
So here is how it goes.
The Toppings
Ingredients:
1 big bell pepper
1 onion
Mushrooms
Pepperoni
So first, you cut the bell pepper, the onion, and the mushrooms into thin slices and then lay them out on a table napkin.
Place another napkin on top of the sliced toppings to eliminate some moisture.
After 1 or 2 minutes, remove the napkin on top and pat the toppings with another towel to remove any excess moisture.
Get the pepperonis and place them on a plate covered with a paper towel. Place another paper towel on top of the pepperonis and then place a plate on it.
Put the pepperoni in a microwave oven for 30 seconds. After that, you will see all the oils and fats come out of the pepperoni and onto the paper towels.
This is to eliminate any excess moisture or oils from the toppings.
Cooking
Make sure that your oven is preheated for at least 15 minutes under 500 degrees Fahrenheit heat. Put your skillet pan inside the oven and preheat it for at least 10 minutes.
After preheating the skillet, take it out and sprinkle some flour on the skillet before placing the dough on it. This will keep the crust from sticking to the skillet.
It is ideal to put flour on the skillet before the dough especially if your cast-iron skillet is not seasoned yet or when it is still new.
Place the dough on the skillet and carefully press it to the sides of the skillet. Be careful since the skillet is still hot from the oven.
Then, brush a layer of oil on the top of your pizza dough and put the skillet back into the oven. Wait for at least 3 to 5 minutes or when you see the dough bubbling.
Take the skillet out of the oven again and then proceed to put the sauce on the dough. Add shredded mozzarella on top.
Carefully place the toppings on top of the pizza and put it back in the oven. Let the cheese melt and then take it out.
The last step will take about 10 to 15 minutes and then your pizza is ready to be taken out of the oven.
Finishing
Using a spatula, run through the sides of the skillet and loosen the pizza dough off. It should come out whole and place it on a cooling rack.
Sprinkle some salt and drizzle olive oil while the pizza is cooling. You can also put fresh basil leaves and some chili flakes if you want.
Reheating a Frozen pizza on a cast-iron skillet
Reheating a pizza with a non-stick skillet is very easy. First, you put the skillet on the stove with medium heat and place the cold pizza on the skillet. Let it sit for two minutes.
After 2 minutes, put two drops of water on the skillet away from the slice of pizza. Turn the heat to low and then cover the skillet.
After 1 minute, turn the heat off and then enjoy your fluffy-crusted, warm, cheesy, pizza! Easy as that.
You can also reheat a pizza using your cast-iron skillet in the oven. Do the same procedure above and finish it off in the oven for another one minute.
This will melt the cheese further without drying out the pizza.
Conclusion
There are several ways to make a great pizza even without an authentic brick oven. Making pizza in a cast-iron skillet is one way and it provides the most amazing pizzas as well.
Since most households have a cast-iron skillet rather than a pizza stone, let alone a brick oven, skillets can come handy when cooking your favorite pizza.
Just remember to always preheat the oven before putting your pizza inside it. Cooking the pizza for a couple of minutes on the stove can also make a difference in the crispiness of the crust.
If you can cook pizza on your cast-iron skillet, then that means that you can enjoy pizza all year-round.
You can cook your pizza indoors and in less than an hour, your family can enjoy that amazing pizza during rainy days where it is impossible to cook on an outdoor oven or on your grill.
Yes, cooking pizza is also possible with your grill. You can check it out and some other ways to make a pizza without a brick oven.
Make sure to also keep your cast-iron skillet in its best condition by learning how to take care, season, and maintain it or look for the best skillet that best fits your requirements!
Let us know how you liked the post and if you have any more useful tips then do share it with us in the comments below!
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