I know you're a pizza buff, though I'm not sure your favorite style. This is my cast-iron deep dish pan pizza. It's got sausage and Pepperoni, but I suppose I could give you permission to make it a veg... :coolsmirk:
You need:
A well-seasoned large cast iron skillet - a 16" would be great, but I was only equipped with a 12" so that's what I used. Mine was I believe 2.5" deep, which worked pretty well.
Either homemade or pre-made pizza dough. Try to avoid a "betty crocker" style mix. Pizza dough is extremely easy to make if you can't buy it premade. You're going to be making two crusts, so a little extra won't hurt. Don't go overboard, the crust is going to be plenty thick. You will want a batch of 1.5 rather than double most likely.
If you are using a pre-made dough, knead a good amount of olive oil into the dough. If you need to add some flour to get it the right consistency afterwords, that's fine. The olive oil is what will make our delicious pan style crispy crust.
1. Separate the dough into two equal portions.
2. Put a light layer of olive oil and a light layer of flour on the bottom of the pan. Lay the dough into the pan, and make it so it can fit all the way up the sides and extend down 1-1.5" over the edges. If the edges in the pan are lifting and won't stay flush with the pan, the crust is stretched too tight.
3. Lay down a light layer of sauce. The second layer is where we will be putting more of the sauce, so even if you like especially saucy pizza, lay it light on this first layer.
4. apply toppings. I used Sausage, peppers, pepperoni, and chopped onions. Spread these evenly all the way to the edge.
5. Apply cheese. You can do pure mozzarella, or you can do mozzarella, parmesan, provolone. any combination, this one's up to you.
6. Lay out the second crust on top. You want the sides of this to extend down just as far as the first crust.
7. Apply another light layer of sauce, medium if you really love saucy pizza.
8. This time, before applying the toppings, mix a bit of shredded cheese and a bit of sauce together with the toppings. Once again, go easy on the sauce unless you really love saucy pizza. Apply the toppings, sauce, and cheese mixture liberally.
9. Apply a liberal amount of cheese. All together this should now be even with (or a LITTLE bit over) the top of the pan.
10. if you have more than 1.5" of dough hanging off the sides, trim it a bit. Roll the excess dough inward to create a nice round crust that rests on top of the toppings.
11. Pour olive oil all along the outer ring of the crust, separating the crust from the pan here and there to allow the oil to run down the sides. Brush the crust with a pastry or basting brush to fully cover with oil.
12. Put whatever toppings you want on the actual top of the pizza, either for style or flavor(or both!)
13. Sprinkle a small amount of olive oil over the whole pie.
14. Bake at 375 for 40-50 minutes, until crust is golden brown. This time will be longer if using a 14, 16, or 18 inch pan.
It's possible to take the pizza out of the pan whole after it has cooled for at least 15 minutes, but it's easier and safer to just cut and serve it from the pan. Trying to take it out could be disastrous. You can use a springform pan if you have one which will allow you to much more easily remove the pizza from the pan, but it doesn't cook the crust quite the same as a cast iron.
You need:
A well-seasoned large cast iron skillet - a 16" would be great, but I was only equipped with a 12" so that's what I used. Mine was I believe 2.5" deep, which worked pretty well.
Either homemade or pre-made pizza dough. Try to avoid a "betty crocker" style mix. Pizza dough is extremely easy to make if you can't buy it premade. You're going to be making two crusts, so a little extra won't hurt. Don't go overboard, the crust is going to be plenty thick. You will want a batch of 1.5 rather than double most likely.
If you are using a pre-made dough, knead a good amount of olive oil into the dough. If you need to add some flour to get it the right consistency afterwords, that's fine. The olive oil is what will make our delicious pan style crispy crust.
1. Separate the dough into two equal portions.
2. Put a light layer of olive oil and a light layer of flour on the bottom of the pan. Lay the dough into the pan, and make it so it can fit all the way up the sides and extend down 1-1.5" over the edges. If the edges in the pan are lifting and won't stay flush with the pan, the crust is stretched too tight.
3. Lay down a light layer of sauce. The second layer is where we will be putting more of the sauce, so even if you like especially saucy pizza, lay it light on this first layer.
4. apply toppings. I used Sausage, peppers, pepperoni, and chopped onions. Spread these evenly all the way to the edge.
5. Apply cheese. You can do pure mozzarella, or you can do mozzarella, parmesan, provolone. any combination, this one's up to you.
6. Lay out the second crust on top. You want the sides of this to extend down just as far as the first crust.
7. Apply another light layer of sauce, medium if you really love saucy pizza.
8. This time, before applying the toppings, mix a bit of shredded cheese and a bit of sauce together with the toppings. Once again, go easy on the sauce unless you really love saucy pizza. Apply the toppings, sauce, and cheese mixture liberally.
9. Apply a liberal amount of cheese. All together this should now be even with (or a LITTLE bit over) the top of the pan.
10. if you have more than 1.5" of dough hanging off the sides, trim it a bit. Roll the excess dough inward to create a nice round crust that rests on top of the toppings.
11. Pour olive oil all along the outer ring of the crust, separating the crust from the pan here and there to allow the oil to run down the sides. Brush the crust with a pastry or basting brush to fully cover with oil.
12. Put whatever toppings you want on the actual top of the pizza, either for style or flavor(or both!)
13. Sprinkle a small amount of olive oil over the whole pie.
14. Bake at 375 for 40-50 minutes, until crust is golden brown. This time will be longer if using a 14, 16, or 18 inch pan.
It's possible to take the pizza out of the pan whole after it has cooled for at least 15 minutes, but it's easier and safer to just cut and serve it from the pan. Trying to take it out could be disastrous. You can use a springform pan if you have one which will allow you to much more easily remove the pizza from the pan, but it doesn't cook the crust quite the same as a cast iron.
