This pan pizza recipe turns out with a crispy bottom, crispy, cheesy edges, and puffy rise. And with all those toppings, it's just a perfect cast iron pan pizza recipe.
1dough ball homemade Perfect All Purpose Pizza Dough Recipe or store-boughtrefrigerated pizza dough.
1/2cupof pizza saucestore-bought or my Rich and Zesty pizza sauce.
1 1/2cupsof mozzarella cheese
3-6ouncesof pepperoni sliced
olive oil to brush onto dough + olive oil to brush onto pan
1/2teaspoonof Italian seasoning, dried optional
Additional toppings (optional)
Additional toppings of your choice - cooked Italian sausagethinly sliced, sautéed peppers, onions, sliced olives, mushrooms etc.
Parmesan cheesegrated for serving
Crushed red pepper flakes for serving
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Instructions
Prepare the dough
Once you have either made your homemade dough (see note below) or purchased prepared dough, (like Trader Joe's refrigerated dough) it's time for a stretch.
If the dough is refrigerated, allow the dough to come to room temperature before stretching the dough. Dust the work surface with a little flour to prevent the dough from sticking. In terms of size, If you are using a 10-inch skillet, you will want to stretch the dough to a circle slightly larger than the bottom of the pan. The dough should be an 11-inch circle.
Don't worry if the circle isn't perfect, once it's placed in the pan and baked it will be fine. For this cast iron pan pizza you will not need cornmeal to dust a pizza peel as the dough will go directly into a heated, oiled pan.
NOTE: If you are using my pizza dough recipe, you will need 1/3 of the dough per pan pizza.
How to prep the cast iron pan to bake pizza
For the best results, preheat grill or oven to 500 degrees Fahrenheit.
Once the oven is preheated, place the empty cast iron pan in the middle rack or grill and preheat for 10 minutes.
Using an oven-safe mitt, carefully remove the preheated cast iron pan and carefully brush olive oil on the bottom and sides of the skillet.
How to bake Cast Iron Pan Pizza
Now carefully place the dough circle in the pan and carefully push the edges if needed to even it out the dough on the bottom of the skillet.
OPTIONAL: Spray or brush olive oil onto the dough, sprinkle Italian seasoning onto the dough.
Spoon pizza sauce onto the dough to the edges.
Add plenty of cheese to the top and edges of the pizza dough and top with pepperoni.
Now place back into the hot oven for 10 or 12 minutes.
The pizza will be baked when it's puffy, crispy and the cheesy edges are golden brown. Yum!
Once the pizza is baked, carefully slide out the pizza onto a cutting board. Use a metal spatula to loosen the sides of the pizza before sliding it onto a cutting board. Cut the pizza into 6-8 slices using a pizza cutter or a long butcher's knife.