A crisp, cooked through crust is nearly impossible to achieve in a homemade pizza. Luckily with this unconventional method, you can!
Delicious homemade pizza is all about a good dough recipe and the method used to cook it! However our ovens get nowhere near as hot as a pizza oven. And because of that, we are left with pizza that has all the golden cheesy goodness on top (yay!) with an undercooked and sad crust (ugh!).
Now, there are those at there that swear by using a pizza stone or oven steel – but being tight on space a specialty kitchen item is not high on my list (unless it’s a griddle/pancake pan, but more on that in the next post). So I turned to something I think everyone has, an oven-safe skillet. It could be a cast iron, stainless steel, non-stick, heck even an enameled cast iron – they will all do the trick.
Now for the secret to a cooked crust and golden top? Cook the crust on the stove before dressing it and putting it in the oven! It’s not hard at all, and I think it’s quite brilliant.
Why is it brilliant you ask? Well, using the stove ensures that the bottom of the crust gets a head start cooking way before the top of the crust. It also makes sure that the top doesn’t get browned so that you can still have that ever so small layer of doughy goodness between the crust and sauce.
Recipe Notes
Use an oven-safe skillet. Make sure your skillet is oven safe. It will be going into a hot oven and some non-stick, although they have a stainless handle, may have coatings that are not – so doublecheck!
Pick and choose what’s homemade. Yes, it can be fun to do a totally homemade pizza: make the sauce, the dough, even the mozzarella cheese! But in my experience, picking and choosing what you undertake can help. Typically, I make the dough and then buy all the rest (Mutti Pizza Sauce is dang good). Yet, if I have a half a can of canned plum or San Marzano tomatoes in the fridge, I am making my own sauce and picking up the dough at one of the Italian bakeries close to work. Pizza dough can also be made one day ahead and kept in the fridge in an airtight container. Or it can be frozen wrapped in plastic wrap for a month. If using frozen dough, thaw in the fridge overnight and remove 2 hours before to allow the dough to come to room temperature.
Get creative! I say this but I love a good napolitana (yes this method has already been posted on the blog) or pepperoni pizza. But sometimes getting creative with pesto, arugula, prosciutto, salami, peppers, mushrooms, etc. is a whole lot of fun.
Hope you enjoy!
THE BEST HOMEMADE PIZZA
The best homemade pizza is steps away using a skillet, the stove and the oven!
INGREDIENTS
Pizza Dough:
- ¾ cup water (around 110°F is best)
- 1 tsp. sugar
- 1 pkg. traditional yeast (2 ¼ tsp. of yeast and also known as active dry yeast)
- 2 cups all purpose flour (plus more for dusting)
- 1 tsp. salt
- 3 tbsp. olive oil (plus more for coating bowl)
Pizza Toppings:
- ⅔ cup pizza sauce
- 2 cups grated mozzarella cheese (or fresh buffalo, or a combo of cheeses... up to you!)
- Your favorite toppings!
INSTRUCTIONS
Pizza Dough:
-
Pour ¾ cup luke warm water into a small bowl, stir in yeast and sugar. Let stand until yeast dissolves and appears active, about 5 minutes.
-
Mix together 2 cups flour and 1 tsp. salt.
-
Stir in 3 tbsp. olive oil into yeast mixture and add liquids to the dry ingresients. Mix together with a wooden spoon or your hands until dough forms.
-
Transfer dough to a lightly floured surface. Knead dough until smooth. If the dough is very sticky add more flour a tablespoonful at a time. Coat a large bowl with olive oil and transfer the dough into the bowl turning it to completely cover it with oil. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm area until doubled insize, about 1 hour to 1 hour and 30 minutes.
-
Punch the dough to deflate and divide in two (good for two 10- to 12-inch pizzas). Roll out each pizza by starting at the center and rolling out towards the edges until it's the size of your skillet.
Making and Cooking the Pizza:
-
Heat oven to broil making sure the rack is no more than 6-inches from the element and grease a 10/11/12-inch oven-safe skillet with some oil and prepare all toppings.
-
Transfer dough to skillet and press the dough to fit the pan making a crust. Pierce the bottom of the crust 10 times using a fork.
-
Cook crust over medium-high heat until the bottom of the crust is golden piercing any bubbles that form, about 6 to 8 minutes. Remove from heat.
-
Quickly top the pizza with your favorite toppings and transfer skillet to the oven. Cook pizza until the crust and cheese begin to brown, about 5 to 8 minutes.
-
Once cooked, remove from skillet onto a cutting board or serving platter and let rest 5 minutes before serving.
-
Repeat with second pizza dough if using - be very cautious as the let will be very hot or use another skillet.
RECIPE NOTES
Use an oven-safe skillet. Make sure your skillet is oven safe. It will be going into a hot oven and some non-stick, although they have a stainless handle may have coatings that are not - so doublecheck!
Pick and choose what's homemade. Yes, it can be fun to do a totally homemade pizza: make the sauce, the dough, even the mozzarella cheese! But in my experience, picking and choosing what you undertake can help. Typically, I make the dough and then buy all the rest (Mutti Pizza Sauce is dang good). Yet, if I have a half a can of canned plum or San Marzano tomatoes in the fridge, I am making my own sauce and picking up the dough at one of the Italian bakeries close to work. Also, pizza dough can be made one day ahead and kept in the fridge in an airtight container. Or it can also be frozen wrapped in plastic wrap for a month. If using frozen dough, thaw in the fridge overnight and remove 2 hours before to allow the dough to come to room temperature.
Get creative! I say this but I love a good napolitana (yes this method has already been posted on the blog) or pepperoni pizza. But sometimes getting creative with pesto, arugula, prosciutto, salami, peppers, mushrooms, etc. is a whole lot of fun.
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