Is bread really the foundation of human society or could we live without it? Find it out while making this tasty skillet pizza!
Course Main Course, Meal, Snack
Cuisine Mediterranean, Sugar free recipe
Prep Time 1 hourhour30 minutesminutes
Cook Time 10 minutesminutes
Equipment
Ø8" / Ø20.5cm Cast iron skillet
Ingredients
Starter
⅞cup/ 100g Flour
½cup/ 100ml Water
1gFresh yeast
Dough
2¾cup/ 325g All purpose flour
¼oz/ 5g Fresh yeast
⅞ / 200mlLukewarm Water
2teaspoons/ 10g Extra virgin olive oil
1teaspoon/ 5g Salt
Sauce
1medium Onionfinely cut
1teaspoonSalt
2tablespoons/ 30ml Oil
1cloveGarliccrushed
14oz/ 300g Tomato pure
3-4leaf Fresh basil
5-10leaf Fresh oregano
Topping
5oz/ 150g Mozzarella
10oz/ 300g Grated cheeseGouda, Edam…
Instructions
Starter
Making a starter is not absolutely necessary but it will provide a more complex flavor for the dough. Combine flour, water and the yeast in an airtight container and put it into the fridge for 4 – 6 hours. It will double in size so choose a big enough box.
Dough
Measure flour into a kneading bowl and sprinkle fresh yeast on top. No need to dissolve the yeast.
Pour in the olive oil and at least half of the water.
Add the starter in too. It tends to stick to the box but mixing it with some flour from the bowl will help salvage every bit without much effort. If starter is not used, just add the equivalent amount of flour and water to the bowl.
Knead the dough until it comes together, gradually adding the remaining water and the salt. We are after a sticky humid dough as we are going to bake the pizza in a low temperature home oven. Flouring our hand will prevent the dough to stick to it.
Take the dough out onto a floured surface.
Separate into two and shape the dough into elongated forms for easier measuring.
Cut the dough up into 6 equal parts, that should make over 4oz / 120g balls which will be enough to cover a Ø8" / Ø20.5cm skillet nicely.
Make balls from the dough, cover them with a wet kitchen cloth and keep them until double in a 68°F – 81°F / 20°C – 27°C place for 45 - 90 minutes. It's an optional step but it helps a lot when stretching the pizza by hand.
Sauce
Pour oil into a pan and caramelize the onions then add the crushed garlic and fry it until it gets fragrant. (Check out the Low Carb Condiments for detailed Tomato Sauce recipe)
Pour the pureed tomato and add basil, oregano and salt then cook it on low heat until about quarter of the liquid evaporates. Add salt to taste.
Topping
Grate the cheese and cut the necessary ingredients up.
Assembly
Stretch the dough to the size of the skillet. If we let the dough raise, it should be elastic enough to be able to do the stretching by hand otherwise use a rolling pin. Oiled or floured hands will keep the dough from sticking to our hands. Check out How to shape a pizza like a pro!
Place the dough into the skillet or just leave it where it was stretched.
Cover the dough and place the skillet with the dough to a 68°F – 81°F / 20°C – 27° place to raise for about 30 minutes. When the growth starts to be visible we can proceed to the next step.
Spread 1-3 spoon of sauce all over the dough.
Add favorite toppings and cheese. Set the oven's broiler to its maximum then start making our skillet pizza on the cooktop on medium to high heat.
After about 30 - 60 seconds we may check the bottom of the pizza. If golden brown spots are already there, the crust is done.
With the oven's broiler already on, put the skillet onto the top shelf for 3 - 5 minutes until the cheese is melted and golden brown spots are visible all around the pizza.
Notes
The raw dough can be kept in the fridge in airtight containers for at least a week. When a dough is needed, just stretch and put it into the skillet then carry on as it were a fresh dough.