Sourdough Cast Iron Pan Pizza
It’s a shame that it took me so long to try this method of pizza-making. For how simple it is and how delicious the finished product turns out, this method of making pizza has an extremely high return on investment.
Seriously, try it and see if you aren’t immediately satisfied with your first bite.
INGREDIENTS
DOUGH
150g Sourdough Starter*
160g Bread Flour
90g Water
8g Salt
SAUCE
28oz Canned Tomatoes
1tsp Garlic Powder
1tsp Onion Powder
1tsp Oregano
1/4 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
RECIPE
Mix together the dough ingredients the night before, and let the shaggy dough rest in the fridge overnight. Don’t bother kneading it. It will be too wet to work with your hands, so just stir it together with a chopstick or wooden spoon until it forms a rough dough ball.
The next day, in the morning, take out the refrigerated dough and give it a brief knead with wet hands. You shouldn’t have much issue handling the dough if it’s cold and if your hands are wet.
Form the dough into a ball and place it in a 8 or 9 inch cast iron pan. Coat the bottom of the pan in a decent amount of olive oil. About 1/4 of a cup, but I usually just eyeball it. You can always wick some away with a paper towel if you feel like you’ve added too much.
Cover the pan with plastic wrap and let the dough sit at room temperature for a few hours. Once it’s doubled in size, simply press the dough to the edges of the pan with wet hands. Then you’re ready to start building your pizza.
For the sauce, I like to simply add all of the ingredients listed above in a bowl and give them a squish with my hands. You can use a blender, food processor, or a potato masher. I choose to just use my hands because they’re easy to clean.
When you’re building your pizza, make sure you go all the way to the edges of the pan as you spread your sauce and cheese. They caramelize and form the greatest, crispiest crust ever.
Set your oven to 550°F and bake this off until the top gets nicely golden brown. I can’t give you a time on how long that will take. Just keep an eye on it. Mine usually take around 8 to 10 minutes, but your oven could be different.
A NOTE ON THE BAKING TEMPERATURE: Mine have smoked up a fair amount each time I’ve done this. I’m going to guess it’s the olive oil jumping out of the pan and burning to the bottom of my oven. But I’m wondering if it’s the pepperoni? If anyone has any wisdom on this, let me know. Either way, just turn on your range hood or open a window.
After you remove the pizza from the oven, check the bottom to make sure the crust is nice and golden brown. If it looks a little paler than you like it, just throw the pan on your stove-top burner for a minute. Once the bottom looks like it’s browned to your liking, remove the pizza with a thin spatula to a cutting board.
Let it rest and cool. Then take a bite and see what I’m talking about.
