Stovetop skillet pizza

Last year, I tried making pizza on the stovetop, in a covered skillet.

But I didn't know what I was doing, and it turned out horrible. Burnt on the bottom, raw on the top. I said "never again."

I didn't know I was supposed to preheat the skillet, and especially the lid, which is absolutely essential.

In fact, the lid should be hotter than the skillet, which should be preheated on low heat.

I recommend preheating the lid in the oven at 400.

But before you do this, you need pizza dough.

In a bread machine on the dough cycle: 3 cups bread flour, 1 cup lukewarm water, 2 tbsp sugar, 1 1/2 tsp salt, 1 1/2 tbsp butter, 2 tsp yeast.

I don't usually make my own pizza sauce, but you can mix tomato sauce, tomato paste, onion powder, garlic powder, oregano, basil, and anchovy paste.

Once you have the dough, sauce, cheese, and toppings ready, preheat the skillet on the stove, on low heat, and the lid in the oven at 400.

After the skillet is preheated, place your dough, add your sauce and toppings.

Keep the skillet on low to medium, and then add your lid and let it bake.

I actually baked one in a regular skillet and one in a deep skillet. The one from the deep skillet turned out better, probably due to better heat circulation.

Or you could just use the oven.

It's not delivery... cast iron pizza

I recently saw an article about how much money you can save, by brewing your own coffee at home instead of buying it at Starbucks. When I was growing up, nobody discussed how much money they could save by brewing their own coffee-- that's just what everybody did!

But what about baking your own pizzas at home, instead of delivery? I've saved so much, that my bread machine and cast iron pizza pan have already paid for themselves.

That's right, you can make your own pizza dough with a bread machine. 

3 cups bread flour, 1 cup lukewarm water, 2 tbsp sugar*, 1 1/2 tsp salt**, 1 1/2 tbsp butter, 2 tsp yeast.

*If you want thinner crust, use less sugar.

**If you want to cut sodium, you can use only 1 tsp salt.  Any less than that will affect the flavor.

When the dough is done, add sauce, cheese and whatever toppings you want. My favorite is ham and mushrooms.

OR, melt light cream cheese, cook chopped onions in the cream cheese, add undrained artichoke hearts, spread on the pizza, top with cheese and black olives (and whatever else you want).

I've also used pesto on pizza. You can make your own with fresh basil, parm cheese, almonds, garlic and olive oil. Mix in a blender.

If you don't have a cast iron pizza pan, a skillet will also work. But the pizza pan is useful for so much more than pizza... just about anything can be cooked on it. It could double as a large griddle, but 14 inches is a bit too large for my electric stovetop. But I could use it as an outdoor hibachi!

I tried the Pampered Chef pizza stone last year, since I had heard how wonderful they are. And they do make good pizzas, except that mine cracked in the oven within a month of purchasing. That won't happen with cast iron!

See my article on baking pizza on the stovetop.