VelvetCheese Cast-Iron Pan Pizza
Inspired by techniques from America's Test Kitchen.
A yeasted dough chills overnight before it's pressed straight into a hot, olive-oil-coated cast-iron skillet, where it fries and puffs against the metal as it bakes. A quick tomato sauce and a cheese-rimmed topping of Monterey Jack and mozzarella turn deep gold, with a crisp, lacy skirt forming where the cheese meets the hot pan.
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Method
- 1
Mix the dough. Stir together the bread flour, fine salt and yeast in a large bowl. Add the warm water and stir until most of the flour is moistened, then knead right in the bowl with your hands until it comes together into a sticky ball, about 1 min.
- 2
Shape and chill. Mist the pie plate or cake pan with vegetable oil spray. Press the dough into the pan to a 18-20 cm disk, mist the top with more spray and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 12 hours and up to 24.
- 3
Make the sauce. Tip the canned tomatoes into a fine-mesh strainer and crush them with your hands, draining well. Transfer to a food processor with the olive oil, garlic, sugar, fine salt, oregano and red pepper flakes, and process until smooth, about 30 sec. (The sauce keeps refrigerated for up to 3 days; this pizza only needs part of it.)
- 4
Warm the dough and oil the skillet. Two hours before baking, take the dough out of the fridge and let it sit at room temperature for 30 min. Pour the olive oil into the cast-iron skillet and tilt it to coat the bottom.
- 5
Press and rise. Set the dough in the skillet and use your fingertips to flatten and stretch it until it reaches to within about 3 mm of the skillet's edge. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and let it rest until slightly puffy, about 1.5 hours. Thirty minutes before baking, set an oven rack to the lowest position and heat the oven to 200°C (180°C fan).
- 6
Top the pizza. Spread 120 ml of the sauce evenly over the dough, leaving a 1 cm border bare. Scatter the Monterey Jack over that border, pressing some of it against the side of the skillet to build a 1-2 cm wall of cheese (not all of it will stick). Scatter the mozzarella evenly over the sauce.
- 7
Bake. Bake until the cheese at the rim is well browned, 25-30 min.
- 8
Rest and check underneath. Move the skillet to the stovetop and let it sit until the sizzling stops, about 3 min. Run a butter knife around the inside edge to loosen the crust, then lift the edge with a thin metal spatula and peek underneath to check its colour.
- 9
Crisp the bottom, cool and serve. If the underside needs more colour, set the skillet over medium heat and cook until the bottom crust is well browned, 2-5 min (the handle will be hot). Using two spatulas, lift the pizza onto a wire rack to cool for 10 min, then slice and serve.
Storage
Best eaten hot from the skillet. Refrigerate leftover slices in an airtight container for up to 3 days and reheat in a hot oven or dry skillet until the cheese is bubbling again; the reserved tomato sauce keeps refrigerated for up to 3 days too. Cool leftovers in a shallow container and refrigerate within 2 hours (within 1 hour on a day above 32°C).
EU nutrition claims
- Source of protein: 4.3 g protein per 100 kcal, about 17% of energy (needs ≥ 12%)
- Low sugars: 1.6 g sugars per 100 g (limit ≤ 5 g)
Per 100 g of the finished dish, worked out from the nutrition per serving and the lowest likely cooked weight (about 110 g a serving), so the true values are, if anything, lower. Thresholds from the Annex to EU Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006. How we decide
Free sugars
0.1 g per serving
0.2 % of the 50 g daily maximum · 0.4 % of the ideal 25 g
Free sugars under 50 g a day, ideally about 25 g (WHO). The share shown is the share of one serving. WHO
Equipment
- large mixing bowl
- wooden spoon or flexible spatula
- 23 cm pie plate or cake pan
- plastic wrap
- fine-mesh strainer
- food processor
- box grater
- 30 cm cast-iron skillet
- butter knife
- thin metal (fish) spatula
- two wide spatulas
- wire cooling rack
Nutrition per serving (estimated values)
| Per serving | Amount |
|---|---|
| Energy | 647 kcal |
| Protein | 28 g |
| Carbohydrate | 60.7 g |
| of which sugars | 1.8 g |
| of which free sugars | 0.1 g |
| Fat | 32.2 g |
| of which saturates | 14 g |
| Fibre | 2.7 g |
| Salt | 2.86 g |
Protein per 100 kcal
4.3 g High Protein needs ≥ 5 g (20% of energy)
Calculated from USDA FoodData Central ingredient values
