Ever since my weight loss surgery, I have had a struggle with bread. It is getting easier, but I find the bread I love is now a thing of the past. And for me, one of the best things was pan pizza - I love the Pizza Hut combo - lots of toppings on a thick, doughy crust. Now since then, I have tried their Thin and Crispy - a cracker consistency crust, and I like it. I don't love it, but I do like it.
Lately, I have been looking at ways of saving money. And I have been thinking a lot over the past year about eventually (years from now) building a wood-fired pizza oven in the back yard. Likely it is just a dream, but I'd sure love one. A few days ago, I came across an article about cooking pizza on a cast iron skillet under the broiler - because home ovens don't get even close to the 700-900 degrees of a pizza oven. So I thought I'd give it a try.
I selected a recipe for a New York crust - being more forgiving than a Neapolitan crust, and being perfect for high heat fast cooking. Plus, I could go thin crust and get a lot of flavor. After searching online, I settled on Serious Eats' Basic New York Pizza Dough.
Ingredients:
22.5 oz bread flour (weighing is important! Get a good scale)
.5 oz sugar
.35 oz kosher salt
.35 oz instant yeast (I used Red Star bread machine yeast)
1.15 oz extra virgin olive oil
15 oz room temperature water (filtered is best)
I made a slight alteration - I didn't use the food processor, I used my stand mixer and dough hook for 11 minutes on low. Coat a large glass bowl with olive oil, toss in the dough and turn to coat it on all sides, cover with plastic wrap. Then, after an overnight proof in the refrigerator, separate into 3-4 balls. Next, I found the method for cooking.
Heat a 12" cast iron skillet on the highest setting on your biggest burner for 10 minutes. Turn on the fan, it will smoke. Meanwhile, place your oven rack to the highest level and turn on your broiler (high if it has settings). Prepare your pizza by stretching and/or tossing to form a 12" circle (roughly). Place on a thin cutting board or pizza peel (I used an Airbake cookie sheet - no lip, so it was perfect!) coated with corn meal to prevent it from sticking. Better yet, use parchment paper, but you have to cut it to fit the crust - otherwise it will catch fire (voice of experience).
Sauce, cheese and top. I worked in a couple of different pizza parlours for almost a decade, this part was easy. When the pan has heated for 10 minutes, remove from heat and turn upside-down. Slide the pizza onto the pan, and place under the broiler, quickly closing the door.
After 45-60 seconds, check and turn the pan around so the hot spots are on the other side. Continue to get an even cook (and maybe slight char) all the way around.
Took me less than 3 minutes total cooking time. And the results?
My two daughters at home today both loved it. My son, who prefers cheese pizza with no sauce (and extra cheese), got the next effort - he love it too! Said he'd gladly eat it whenever I made it. Which may just be a regular thing. Certainly worth a try - not a pizza oven, but awfully good!
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