Few things compare to the satisfaction of making your own pizza at home—especially when it's a thick, hearty pan pizza with thick, chewy crust, crispy edges, gooey cheese and flavorful pepperoni. The best part is that it is easy to make a Pepperoni Pan Pizza in a cast iron skillet. The cast iron skillet retains and evenly distributes heat, making it ideal for achieving that crispy crust on the outside and soft, chewy dough inside. Plus, a cast iron skillet can withstand high oven temperatures, which helps replicate the high heat of a wood-fired pizza oven.
In this post, we'll take you step by step through the process of making this delicious pan pizza. This pizza dough is probably unlike any pizza dough that you have every made. It's sticky and and seems to have a mind of its own. But that's OK, it makes a great pizza.
Try my recipes for Chicago Style Deep Dish Pizza in a Wood-Fired Oven, Margherita Pizza with Buffalo Mozzarella and Mushroom and Goat Cheese Pizza with Fresh Basil.
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Ingredients
Dough Ingredients
- Fine sea salt
- Water
- Instant dried yeast
- Caputo pizza flour, "00" Chef Flour or all purpose flour
Sauce Ingredients
- San Marzano tomatoes
- Kosher salt
Toppings
- Low-fat Mozzarella cheese
- Fontina cheese
- Asiago cheese
- Parmesan cheese
- Pepperoni
See recipe card for quantities.
Instructions
Add the sea salt to the bowl of a stand mixer. Then, add water and swirl around until dissolved. Add the yeast and wait 15 seconds. Swirl the mixture to dissolve the yeast.
Add the flour and mix with a dough hook until it just comes together and there are no stray pieces of dough on the bottom of the bowl. Cover and let rest for 20 minutes. Knead the dough with the dough hook on the mixer’s slowest speed for three minutes. Increase the speed to the next lowest setting and mix another three minutes.
Now, it's time to let the dough rest. Place the dough ball in a dough tub or bowl sprayed with a little cooking spray and let it rise for four hours. It will nearly double in size.
Place the dough ball on the countertop keeping it as round as possible. Lightly dust the dough with a little flour to make it easier to handle. Stretch the dough out and fold it like a letter, left to right then right to left, overlapping about ⅓ of the dough each fold. Repeat the fold top down and bottom up. Tighten the dough into a ball.
Place the dough ball in a cast iron skillet that has been thoroughly coated with olive oil. Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil to the top of the dough and stretch the dough as much as possible. It will snap back but will be easier to stretch after a short rest.
Let the dough rest 10 minutes, then continue to stretch the dough to the edge of the skillet.
Spread ⅓ cup of sauce over the dough. I prefer a simple sauce made with canned San Marzano tomatoes imported from Italy and a little sea salt.
Par-bake the pizza for about 10 minutes at 550°F until the edges are light golden brown and the sauce has caramelized a bit. This is necessary to make sure that the dough is done inside.
Remove the par-baked dough from the oven and add more sauce, cheese and toppings.
Make sure to add a generous helping of pepperoni overlapping it a bit. Pepperoni will shrink when cooked.
Bake for 10 more minutes.
Use a spatula to carefully transfer the pizza from the pan to a cutting board. The pan will be VERY HOT, so be careful.
Substitutions
I prefer to use Caputo pizza flour or "00" chef flour that can be found on the internet. See my shop page for a link. All-purpose flour can also be used.
Variations
Try crumbling some pre-cooked Italian sausage on top of the cheese. Also try sautéed white or crimini mushrooms. Wipe the mushrooms clean and cut them into slices ⅛" thick. Sauté the cut mushrooms over medium-low heat until they soften and release their liquid. Then, add them on top of the cheese.
Equipment
This pizza was made in a 900°F wood-fired oven. A conventional pizza stone in a 500° - 550°F oven would also work.
Storage
Store leftover pizza in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
Top Tip
Par-baking the pizza dough is important to ensure that the crust is done. Otherwise, the toppings will be done before the crust has cooked. Also, don't forget the olive oil. The olive oil in the skillet not only prevents sticking but also fries the crust to a golden perfection.
Final Thoughts
Making a thick pan pizza with pepperoni in a cast iron skillet is easy to do. With its crispy edges and fluffy interior, this cheesy pepperoni pizza is sure to become a favorite in your home. This recipe rivals your favorite takeout pan pizza. Enjoy!
Related
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📖 Recipe
Pepperoni Pan Pizza in a Cast Iron Skillet Recipe
Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Add the sea salt to the bowl of a stand mixer. Add water and swirl around until dissolved. Add the yeast and wait 15 seconds. Swirl the mixture to dissolve the yeast. Add flour and mix with a dough hook until it just comes together and there are no stray pieces of dough on the bottom of the bowl. Cover and let rest for 20 minutes. Knead the dough with the dough hook on the slowest speed for three minutes. Increase the speed to the next higher setting and mix another three minutes.
- Carefully place the dough ball in a dough tub or bowl sprayed with a little cooking spray and let rise for four hours.
- Place the dough ball on the countertop keeping it as round as possible. Fold the ball two or three times and tighten into a ball.
- Place the dough ball in a cast iron skillet that has been thoroughly coated with olive oil. Add 1 tbs of olive oil to the top of the dough and stretch the dough as much as possible. Let dough rest 10 minutes, then continue to stretch the dough to the edge of the skillet.
- Spread ⅓ cup of sauce on top of the stretched dough and par-bake for about 10 minutes at 550°F until the edges are light golden brown and the sauce has caramelized a bit.
- Add more sauce, cheese and toppings and bake for 10 more minutes. Cut into 8 slices. Enjoy!
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