What’s the secret to making restaurant-quality pizza in the comfort of your own home? Apparently, just a cast iron skillet! We were so excited to try this recipe once we saw it on Adam Ragusea’s YouTube channel, and we’re serious when we say it’ll blow your mind!
What is a Skillet Pizza?
It’s basically a pizza that’s cooked in a skillet on your stove-top for the first half, and in the broiler for the second half. The result? A golden-crispy edged pizza that will make you think it was delivered from a top-notch pizza restaurant. Try it out for yourself and let us know what you think!
Skillet Pizza
The secret to a perfect homemade pizza? A 10-inch cast iron skillet (Recipe adapted from Adam Ragusea)
Ingredients
For the Dough:
- ¼ tsp active dry yeast
- 1 tsp sugar
- ½ cup water, warm
- 1½ cup all-purpose flour, (bread flour or all-purpose flour)
- ½ tsp salt
Coat the Pan with:
- extra virgin olive oil
- sprinkle of cornmeal
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- pinch of salt
- pinch black pepper
For the Sauce:
- ⅓ cup tomatoes, canned / pureed (Recipe author recommends Pastene's brand of "Kitchen Ready" ground tomatoes or a brand of tomatoes that tastes good raw)
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
- sugar, to taste
- fresh basil leaves, optional
For the Toppings:
- ½ cup Parmesan cheese, grated (or more, if you prefer)
- 4 oz mozzarella cheese, grated (low-moisture/whole milk – might need to look at mozzarella sticks to find this combo)
- toppings, any of your choice (we chose pepperoni and sliced tomatoes)
Instructions
- To start making the dough, mix the yeast, sugar, and water in a bowl. Let it sit for five minutes, then add your flour and salt. Now it’s time to knead.
- Using a standing mixer (or your hands), knead the dough until thoroughly combined, then cover with wet towel or plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature until it’s doubled in size (approx 1-2 hours).
- Season your skillet with olive oil, cornmeal, oregano, salt and pepper. Mix this thoroughly and from edge to edge of the pan. Spread the dough across the pan and let it sit in the pan until puffy (about 30 mins).
- In the meantime, make the sauce by mixing the tomatoes, olive oil, sugar, and optional basil. While it might feel un-natural, spoon the sauce across the dough from edge to edge, without a bare rim.
- Turn on your stove’s largest burner to medium-high heat and cook the pizza for about 5 mins.
- While you wait for the pizza to cook, this is also a good time to pre-heat your broiler to high.
- Once you start to smell the dough getting crispy, add cheese and toppings, and cook until the bottom gets golden (can lift and check the bottom with a spatula – approx another 2-3 mins)
- Transfer the pan to the highest rack in the pre-heated broiler and cook until the cheese is browned but not burned (approx 4-5 mins).
- Take out your pizza, let it cool in the pan until firm. Then remove it with tongs, and enjoy!
EQUIPMENT
10-inch Cast Iron Skillet or Teflon Pan. (If using a Teflon pan, you will need to increase the cook time on the burner portion until the bottom turns golden)
Video
Cast Iron Pan Pizza
Notes
- This recipe serves 2 — if you want to feed more people, you need more pans.
- Use a wide bowl to knead the dough in, instead of transferring to a board.
- The wetter the dough, the better it tastes. Use just enough flour so that it can stretch out thin without tearing.
- It’s better to work with cold dough so the author recommends using long cold rise in the fridge overnight. But if in a time crunch, can do 1 hour in room temperature setting until it rises to at least double in size.
- The trickiest part of this recipe is judging when to take it off the burner to go into the broiler (approx 7-8 mins after being on the burner). It will of course depend on your burner and pan, but you can always check the underside of the pizza with a spatula to ensure it isn’t burning.
- Can use teflon instead of cast iron, but it won’t heat as well, so might need to keep it on the burner longer
Nutrition Estimate
Calories: 640kcal | Carbohydrates: 30g | Protein: 26g | Fat: 47g | Saturated Fat: 15g | Cholesterol: 62mg | Sodium: 1344mg | Potassium: 186mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 802IU | Vitamin C: 3mg | Calcium: 608mg | Iron: 3mg
Tried this recipe?Please rate it above!
If you like this post, then we definitely recommend checking out our Best Pinsa Recipes post.