Cast Iron Pizza Recipe

Make a cast iron skillet pizza with a deep dish style dough that's crispy on the outside but chewy on the inside. A no-knead dough that can can stay fresh for three days, giving you flexibility on when you'll have pizza night.

Course: entree

Cuisine: Italian

Servings:

Prep Time: 16

Cook Time: 20

Ingredients

TOPPING

▢ 1 ½ cups Mozzarella cheese (grated)
▢ 1 teaspoon Red pepper flakes
▢ ⅓ cup tomato sauce
▢ 3 ounces pancetta

Instructions

In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine flour, salt, yeast, water and 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Beat for about a minute until the flour is incorporated, form it into a ball, cover the bowl and let it rest for 5 minutes.
Take a a bowl scraper down the side of the bowl and lift the dough up and over the top, turn the bowl 90º and repeat this 3 more times for a total of four. Cover the bowl and let it rest 5 minutes. Repeat this step 3 more times for a total of four.
After you have folded the dough over itself 4 times, cover and let it rest for 40 minutes and then refrigerate over night and up to 72 hours.
3 hours before serving, pour 1 ½ tablespoons of olive oil into a 10 inch iron-skillet, spreading the oil over the bottom and up the edges. Transfer the dough into the oiled skillet pressing it to the edges of the skillet. If it resists, cover and let it rest for about 15 minutes and try again. Press your fingers into the dough, dimpling it all over.
Cover and let rise for 2 hours at room temperature. It should look soft.
Preheat oven to 450°F.
An a small skillet, saute chopped pancetta until slightly crispy.
Sprinkle about a cup of mozzarella cheese directly onto the dough so that no dough is showing, cover the entire crust. Sprinkle with red pepper flakes and add spoonfuls of sauce and pancetta. Top with remaining mozzarella cheese.
Bake on the bottom rack of the oven for 18-20 minutes until the cheese is bubbling and the crust is golden brown. Remove from oven and run a spatula around the edges of the pan and let it cool briefly. Transfer to a cooling rack and serve.

Barbara's Notes + Tips

For this recipe I used an iron skillet that measures 9 inches on the surface. You can use smaller skillets for individual servings.
Do not use wet mozzarella to cover the dough, use a regular block of mozzarella and save the wet mozzarella for a topping.
If the bottom of the crust is not completely brown, let it cook for a few more minutes.
The dough is even better if it refrigerates for 2 days.
This dough does not freeze well.

Nutrition