Cast Iron Pan Cheese Pizza
This homemade pizza is both simple, and incredibly delicious. The dough comes together super fast, using a food processor. The no cook pizza sauce takes minutes to make. What makes this pizza really special is the "frico" (crispy cheese edge). There's no need to pay for pizza delivery, when you can make this simple and flavorful pizza in your own kitchen. Trust me, it's so worth it!
Servings 8 slices
Equipment
- 1 9" pie pan
- Food processor for dough
- 12" Cast Iron Skillet
Ingredients
For the Pizza Dough:
- 2 cups bread flour 11 ounces
- 1 teaspoon table salt
- 1 teaspoon instant or rapid-rise yeast
- 1 cup warm water (105 to 110 degrees) 8 ounces
- Vegetable oil spray
For the Pizza Sauce
- 1 14.5-ounce can whole-peeled tomatoes
- 1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 garlic clove minced
- ¼ teaspoon sugar
- ¼ teaspoon table salt
- ¼ teaspoon dried oregano
- Pinch red pepper flakes
For the pizza:
- 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 4 ounces Monterey Jack cheese shredded (1 cup)
- 7 ounces whole-milk mozzarella cheese shredded; 1¾ cups
Instructions
BEFORE YOU BEGIN:
- This pizza bakes in a 12-inch cast-iron skillet. Weigh the flour and water for the best results. Use a block cheese, not fresh mozzarella, for this recipe. Avoid pre-shredded cheese; it contains added starch, which gives the melted cheese a drier, chewier texture.
FOR THE DOUGH:
- Using wooden spoon or spatula, stir flour, salt, and yeast together in bowl. Add warm water and mix until most of flour is moistened. Using your hands, knead dough in bowl until dough forms sticky ball, about 1 minute. Spray 9-inch pie plate or cake pan with oil spray. Transfer dough to prepared plate and press into 7- to 8-inch disk. Spray top of dough with oil spray. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 12 to 24 hours. NOTE: During this rest, the dough's gluten strengthens enough for the crust to support the toppings but still have a tender crumb.
FOR THE SAUCE (can make up to 3 days in advance):
- Place tomatoes in fine-mesh strainer and crush with your hands. Drain well, then transfer to food processor. Add oil, garlic, sugar, salt, oregano, and pepper flakes and process until smooth, about 30 seconds. (Sauce can be refrigerated for up to 3 days.)
FOR THE PIZZA:
- Two hours before baking, remove dough from refrigerator and let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes.
- Coat bottom of 12-inch cast-iron skillet with oil. Transfer dough to prepared skillet and use your fingertips to flatten dough until it is ⅛ inch from edge of skillet. Cover tightly with plastic and let rest until slightly puffy, about 1½ hours.
- Thirty minutes before baking, adjust oven rack to lowest position and heat oven to 400 degrees. Spread ½ cup sauce evenly over top of dough, leaving ½-inch border (save or freeze remaining sauce for another use). Sprinkle Monterey Jack evenly over border. Press Monterey Jack into side of skillet, forming ½- to ¾-inch-tall wall. (Not all cheese will stick to side of skillet.) Evenly sprinkle mozzarella over sauce. Bake until cheese at edge of skillet is well browned, 25 to 30 minutes.
Finishing the baked pizza:
- Transfer skillet to stove top and let sit until sizzling stops, about 3 minutes. Run butter knife around rim of skillet to loosen pizza. Using thin metal spatula, gently lift edge of pizza and peek at underside to assess browning. Cook pizza over medium heat until bottom crust is well browned, 2 to 5 minutes (skillet handle will be hot). Using 2 spatulas, transfer pizza to wire rack and let cool for 10 minutes. Slice and serve.
Notes
Recipe source: America's Test Kitchen
While this pizza recipe appears to have a lot of steps, you can break them up very easily. First, make the dough. You can make the sauce up to 3 days in advance, and refrigerate or freeze leftover sauce for future use. The crispy cheese edges are heavenly good, and that's why this pizza is well worth the wait.