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Cast iron pan on wooden board with a crispy, fluffy pepperoni pan pizza in it.

Crispy, Fluffy Cast Iron Pan Pizza

A delicious alternative to a pizza night, all made in a home oven!
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Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Proving Time 4 hours 30 minutes
Total Time 5 hours 25 minutes
Servings: 4 people
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: American, Italian
Ingredients Equipment Method

Ingredients
  

For the Dough
  • 300 g Bread Flour
  • 6 g Salt
  • 7 g Yeast Or one packet if in packets
  • 7 g Sugar
  • 10 ml Olive Oil
  • 210 ml Water Warm
For the Sauce
  • 1 tin Chopped Tomatoes
  • 1 tbsp Dried Oregano
  • 1/2 tbsp Dried Basil
  • 1/2 tbsp Garlic Powder
  • 1/2 tsp Salt
  • 1/4 tsp Black Pepper
Suggested Toppings
  • 1 ball Fresh Mozzerella Hand ripped
  • 75 g Pepperoni Sliced
  • 3 tbsp Ricotta To add at the end
  • 1 handful Fresh Basil Leaves To add at the end

Equipment

  • 1 Cast Iron Skillet

Method
 

1. Make the Dough
  1. First mix the yeast, sugar and the warm water in a small bowl. This will allow the yeast to activate and start breaking down the sugar to produce CO2. This is what will give the dough it's rise.
  2. Mix the flour and salt in a large mixing bowl and add in the water/sugar/yeast mix.
  3. Mix this by hand until a rough, shaggy dough has formed.
  4. Add the olive oil and mix in by hand.
  5. Move the dough to a clean work surface and knead it by hand for 2 minutes until it comes together into an evenly distributed dough.
  6. Put the dough back into a bowl, cover with a towel or cling film and leave to prove at room temperature for 30 minutes.
  7. Reove the dough from the bowl and lift it by one side. Slap it down onto the work surface and fold it back over itself. This technique is imaginatively called slap and fold and it helps to keep air in the dough and form strong gluten!
  8. Repeat this proving and stretching 2 more times.
  9. After the final prove and stretch, leave the dough to rest for another 1.5 hours. After this it should really have increased in size and begun to show a lot of air bubbles.
  10. Generously oil your cast iron pan with olive oil and transfer the dough into the pan to prove again for another 1.5 hours at room temperature. Do not worry if it doesn't fill the pan to the edges. It will do after being left to rest.
  11. Finally, spread the dough around the pan gently with your fingers until the whole pan is filled.
2. Make the Sauce
  1. Tip your can of tomatoes into a blender.
  2. Add the seasonings and blend until smooth.
  3. Taste and add more seasonings if desired! Depending on the quality of your tomatoes, you may want to add a little bit of sugar or possibly vinegar to bring out their flavour a bit more. Be very conservative with these if you do want to add them as the sauce will become more sweet and tangy as it cooks on the pizza.
3. Cooking the Pizza
  1. Preheat your oven to 240°C.
  2. When heated, brush your dough with olive oil and put it into the oven for 10 minutes to blind bake.
  3. Remove the dough and spoon the sauce on top, spreading over right to the edges with a spoon or brush.
  4. Scatter your cheese over the top of the sauce, going right up to the edges. Add small dollops of sauce evenly across the cheese as well.
  5. Add the remainder of your toppings, evenly distributed.
  6. Put back into the oven for 10 minutes.
  7. Remove from the oven and gently use a knife, spatula or similar to release the pizza from the sides of the pan if it is a little bit stuck.
  8. Gently lift the pizza at one corner with a spoon or spatula and slide the pizza carefully out onto a board or rack to cool.
  9. Add any final toppings at the end if you have any.
  10. Cut into slices and enjoy!