Sure, takeaway pizzas are great! But creating your own dream pizza is so much more satisfying and delicious!
Making your own homemade pizza is much easier than most people imagine. It enables you to get the perfect balance of crispy yet fluffy crust, precisely the right amount of sauce, and your very own dream combination of toppings. What could be better?
My family absolutely loves homemade pizza night. Although the dish itself is virtually effortless, we like to make a whole evening of it, with bowls of every topping you can think of and lots of floury fingers as we each build our own… Then we have a tasting competition to see who’s flavor combinations are the best! We’ve made some truly tasty (and pretty disastrous yet funny) pizzas this way. No two are ever the same, and that just adds to the fun!
Can you cook pizza in a skillet?
Once upon a time, I believed you needed a proper pizza stone to make delicious homemade pizzas. That all changed once I stumbled upon an easy cast-iron skillet pizza recipe that I just had to try… Now I don’t cook pizzas any other way!
There are a few different approaches for cooking pizza in a cast-iron skillet, and different chefs will swear by different methods, so it can be tricky to determine which is best. The below recipe is the one I’ve had the most success with, but feel free to experiment till you find the right method for you.
That said, I will highly recommend that you use real cast-iron and not an enamelled skillet. This ensures a more even distribution of heat and a better crust. I find Uno Casa cast iron is fantastic for pizza cooking!
Top tips for tasty, crispy, fluffy pizza dough
When it comes to pizza, getting the dough right really is vital. There are loads of recipes online for tasty pizza dough: easy, no-knead pizza dough or thicker and more bread-like varieties. I recommend trying a few depending on your available time, ingredients, and skill level until you find your favourite.
If you don’t fancy making your own dough, store-bought pizza dough can also be delicious. Just make sure you allow the dough to reach room temperature before you try to cook with it, as this will make it considerably easier for you to manipulate and roll the dough.
Cast-iron skillet pizza recipe
Yield: 4 servings
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 35 minutes
Ingredients
- 4oz pizza dough (store-bought or homemade)
- 6oz marinara sauce or other pizza sauce
- ¾ cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
- ¼ cup parmesan cheese, grated
- 2 tbsp oil
- 1 tbsp fresh basil, chopped
- Your choice of pizza toppings
Method
- Place your cast-iron skillet in the oven, then preheat to 500’F with the pan inside.
- Form a ball with the pizza dough, then cut it in half and place it on a floured, flat surface.
- Using your hands, push the dough into an even circle about the size of your skillet.
- Prepare your toppings and keep them nearby.
- CAREFULLY place the hot skillet on a heat-proof surface.
- Use paper towels or a napkin to spread a little oil in the pan, then place the first circle of dough into the pan. Use your hands to push the dough to the edges of the skillet. Don’t worry about building a crust; this will happen naturally as the dough cooks.
- Next, spoon a thin layer of sauce onto the pizza dough, starting in the middle and working out. Leave a small gap around the perimeter of the dough for the crust.
- Sprinkle over a generous handful of cheese and any other toppings (I don’t recommend putting on fresh herbs such as basil at this point, as they will wilt and become less fragrant).
- Bake, uncovered, for 14-16 minutes. When the cheese is bubbling slightly and the pizza crust turns golden brown, your pizza is done.
- Cautiously take the skillet out of the oven and slide the pizza onto a large chopping board.
- Top with fresh herbs (like basil) and any other last-minute toppings (freshly cracked black pepper and red pepper flakes are some of my favourites).
- Repeat with the second half of the dough. If you have two skillets and a large oven, you can cook both halves simultaneously.
Final thoughts
It’s important not to let the skillet cool while you’re adding your toppings, as this will affect the dough’s cooking time and mean that it can’t get as nice and crispy. Therefore, it’s a good idea to prep all your toppings as early as possible so you can get your pizza loaded and back in the oven quickly.
If you find your pizza is cooking too quickly or unevenly, try reducing the heat slightly and keep a careful eye on the pizza as it cooks.
My family absolutely loves pizza Fridays. And now you know how quick, easy, and fun making your own pizzas can be, I’m sure yours will too!
Disclosure: This is a featured post.