Homemade Cast Iron Pan Pizza

Growing up as a kid my parents used to always take us to Pizza Hut to get my favorite pizza. The Pan Pizza. The Pan Pizza was the best deep dish pizza around. I loved that thick crust that was crispy on the bottom and had that edge of fried cheese. Today, you can easily recreate that same taste at home with my Cast Iron Pan Pizza recipe.

Pizza Dough Recipe

Ingredients:

2 cups flour

1 tsp salt

1 packet of yeast

8 oz warm water

directions:

1. Mix all dry ingredients in a bowl.
2. Add water.
3. Knead dough for 2-3 minutes, it will be wet and very loose, but that’s ok.
4. Cover and refrigerate for overnight.

No cook pizza sauce

Ingredients:

14 oz can whole tomatoes

1 minced garlic clove

1 tsp olive oil

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp sugar

1/4 tsp oregano

3-4 chopped basil leaves

Directions:

1. Remove tomatoes from the can and place in a bowl while leaving the juice in the can. Throw out the juice or save it to make a bloody mary.
2. Add the rest of ingredients to the bowl.
3. By hand crush the tomatoes up until small pieces while missing the other ingredients with the tomatoes.
4. Use immediately or cover and refrigerate until ready to make pizza.

Directions to make the Pan Pizza

1. Remove dough from the refrigerator and set on counter for 1/2 hour.
2. Pour 3 tbsp olive oil into cast iron pan.
3. Place dough into the cast iron pan and press dough into pan while spreading it to the edges.
4. Cover with plastic wrap or a kitchen towel and let sit for 1 1/2 hours.
5. Remove cover and spread desired amount of sauce on the pizza. A good amount is 1/2 cup but you can use more or less according to preference.
6. Add 3 cups of cheese to the top of the pizza, being sure to push the cheese to the edge of the pan and build a small 1/2 cheese wall up the side of the pan. This will melt and create the fried cheesy edge on the crust.
7. Add any additional toppings of your choice.
8. Place in a 400 degree preheated oven for 25 – 30 minutes.
9. Remove from oven and let sit 3 minutes. After 3 minutes run a butter knife around the edge to loosen the crust from the pan. Lift up the edge of the crust to check the bottom of the pizza. If the crust is not cooked enough you can finish cooking it for about 5 minutes on a burner on your stove.
10. Let pizza cool for 10 minutes, cut and EAT!