Cast Iron Pan Pizza (using Instant or Active Dry Yeast)
Makes: 1 x 10-inch pizza
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups (180 grams / 7 ounces) flour (bread flour or all-purpose)
1/4 teaspoon yeast (can use either instant or active dry yeast)
1/4 to 3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup (177 ml) water (cold or hot water (130F-135F / 54C-57C) , depending on how far in advance you want to make the dough, see notes below)
1 tablespoon olive oil, to grease your cast iron pan
1/3 cup pizza sauce
1 cup (125 grams / 4 ounces) mozzarella, shredded
whatever toppings you prefer
Directions
In a medium bowl (preferably one with a tight-fitting lid), sift the flour, yeast, and salt. Add the water, mix well, cover and let stand for 3 hours.
When the dough has finished resting, it’ll be puffy, soft, full of small bubbled, and will have doubled in size. Sprinkle a bit of flour on top of the dough and stir it for a little bit until it forms a ball.
Next, use the oil to grease the bottom and sides of a 9 or 10-inch cast iron pan.
Place the dough into the pan and push it out to the edges of the pan. (Put a bit of oil on your fingers to do this so you don’t tear the dough). Cover the pan with a plate or the lid of a pot, and let it rest again for at least 1 hour but preferably 2 hours. It will rise a bit more during this time.
When the dough is ready, preheat your oven to the highest temperature (500F to 550F / 260 C to 290C).
Meanwhile, add your pizza sauce, toppings, and cheese.
Cook on top of the stove, on a burner set to medium-high heat for 3 minutes.
Then, place the pan into the oven and bake for about 12 to 15 minutes until done.
Cold Water:
If you don’t need the dough ready as quickly, you can use cold water instead, and let the dough rest for 12 to 18 hours, before then getting it ready into the pan.
Tip: When using sliced mushrooms, peppers, or onions, remove excess moisture by placing them between 2 paper towels, microwaving them for 1 minute, and squeezing out the extra water before using on the pizza.
My Notes
I used cheddar cheese and 1/5 of a 400g can of pizza sauce. (I divided out the rest of the can into 1/3 cup portions and froze them in silicone muffin cups to use on later pizzas.) I used the full 3/4 teaspoon of salt, and while it didn’t taste especially salty, it felt like it was a lot so next time I’ll only use 1/4 teaspoon.
When cooking it on the hob for 3 minutes, the olive oil started splattering a bit so be careful.
I used frozen onions, frozen mushrooms, and frozen broccoli pieces, all microwaved for 1 minute to get rid of the excess water.
Instead of sprinkling a bit more flour on the dough after it was done resting for 3 hours, I used some semolina just because I had in the house.
My oven only goes to 250C and seems to have a safety cut-off when it gets past that temperature, so the last few times I made this, I only heated it to 240C to make sure I don’t trigger the safety shut-off!
Leftovers can be reheated on an ungreased cookie tray at 180C for 8 minutes or so.
This turned out really well and I’m almost ashamed to admit how much we eat pizza now. 😉
I often forget to snap a photo of the pizzas we make now, but here’s a sampling:
