Recipe Notes: Skillet Pizza

 31 July 2020

Recipe from Bread Illustrated, America's Test Kitchen, 2016, p. 78.

I have enjoyed making pizza lately. The previous recipe I tried created a great pizza but the dough fermented for three days in the refrigerator and was baked on a stone in a very hot oven. It was worth waiting, but sometimes you want to get it over and done with in one day and still enjoy a good pizza. This recipe let's you do that and it is reminiscent of a recent cast-iron skillet pizza recipe I tried. But, using this quicker recipe, how is the pizza?

The sauce was made in the food processor: canned whole tomatoes, oil, garlic, vinegar, oregano, salt, and pepper were processed until smooth. The mixture was topped off with juice from the canned tomatoes to a total volume of two cups, enough for four pizzas. Half of this was frozen for later use.

The dough was also made in the food processor. Bread flour, yeast, and salt were processed to combine. With the processor running, olive oil was slowly added, then water, and processed until a rough ball forms. The dough was kneaded briefly by hand and formed into a ball. Half of the dough was put into the refrigerator for the next day and half was left to rise until doubled.  It was then pressed into an 11-inch circle and placed into a 12-inch skillet that had been prepared with 2 tablespoons olive oil. One-half cup of the sauce was spread on the dough and it was topped with 4-ounces of fresh mozzarella slices. The skillet was placed on a burner over high heat and cooked until the pizza was slightly puffy and the bottom had started to brown. The skillet was then transferred to a 500° oven and cooked until the pizza was done, about 10 minutes. It was topped with chopped fresh basil and served. Total time was about 3½ hours, much of it hands off.

The second night the dough was removed from the refrigerator and left to warm at room temperature for 30 minutes. It was then shaped and prepared as on the first day. The dough was a little stiffer then for the first pizza but it was easy to press and roll out to the right size. Total time for the second night was 50 minutes. 

For a relatively short time in the kitchen this is a pretty good homemade pizza. It's not as good as the thin crust pizza where the dough that rises for three days in the refrigerator and then is baked on a very hot stone in a very hot oven. But for the effort involved this is a pretty good way to go.