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The Best Pan Pizza {super easy!} How and why it works and the best recipe to use!

The Best Pan Pizza

Rebecca Lindamood
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes
VERY gently adapted from and with great thanks to Kenji of Serious Eats.  Oil soaked, crispy bottomed, chewy, fried-crust pizza perfection.

Ingredients
  

For the dough:

  • 14 ounces bread flour 3 cups by volume
  • 2 teaspoons kosher salt 3/8 of an ounce or .35 ounces
  • 1/2 teaspoon instant yeast 0.06 ounce or 1.5 grams
  • 1 1/2 cups water (12 ounces)

For the Pizzas:

  • 4 tablespoons olive oil or neutral oil with a high smoke point like grapeseed such as peanut, or canola, divided (no extra virgin olive oil)
  • 1 1/2 cups thick pizza sauce homemade or purchased
  • 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
  • 12-16 pieces of pepperoni per pizza

Optional but tasty:

  • fresh basil leaves for adding before and after baking

Instructions
 

  • Mix together all of the dough ingredients until it is evenly moist and there are no more pockets of dry ingredients. Cover the bowl or dough bucket tightly and let it rise for at least 8 but up to 24 hours.
  • Pour 2 tablespoons of neutral oil into a 10 to 12 inch cast-iron skillet. Repeat with a second skillet. Swirl to coat the bottoms of the pans. Divide the risen dough into two pieces. Gently form into a ball by pulling the side of the dough and tucking it under, rotating 1/4 turn and repeating the tug and tug, rotating another 1/4 turn and repeating the tug and tuck, then finally doing it once more to form a loose ball. Lay it smooth side down in the oil, then flip so the whole thing is coated in oil. Use the palm of your hand to gently flatten the dough. It will not spread to the edges yet, but that is okay. Cover the pan tightly with plastic wrap and set out at room temperature -undisturbed- for 2 hours.

To Prepare the Pizzas:

  • Preheat oven as high as it will go, preferably to 550°F. Remove plastic wrap from the pans with the pizza dough in them. The dough should now have spread itself (or nearly spread itself) to the edges of the pan. Simply lift the edges of dough to pull toward the sides of the pan if necessary. This will help loosen any trapped air under the dough as well. If there are any large air bubbles, nudge them down with the back of a knuckle.
  • Spread half of the sauce on each pizza right to the edges of the dough. Divide the cheese and top each pizza evenly to the edge, then distribute the pepperoni over the pizzas. If using it, tear half of your basil leaves and toss over the tops of the pizzas. Reserve half of the basil to add to the pizzas when they're removed from the oven.
  • Put into the hot oven and bake for 12-20 minutes (depending on how well done you want your pizzas.) You can check the underside of the pizza crust for doneness by lifting the edge gently with a flexible spatula (like a fish turner). A finished pizza will have a crisp, deep-brown bottom and a bubbly, golden- to deep-golden brown top. I pull my pizzas when the edges have some deeply caramelized (read: lightly charred) edges and some dark brown bubbles on top.
  • Use your flexible spatula to slide under the pizza and edge it out onto a cutting board, tear the remaining basil and scatter over the pizzas. Let rest for 5 minutes before slicing into wedges, then let it rest without moving it for another 3 minutes before serving.

Nutrition

Calories: 348kcalCarbohydrates: 38gProtein: 14gFat: 14gSaturated Fat: 4gCholesterol: 23mgSodium: 1026mgPotassium: 180mgFiber: 2gSugar: 2gVitamin A: 390IUVitamin C: 3.2mgCalcium: 147mgIron: 1.2mg

Nutritional information is an estimate and provided to you as a courtesy. You should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe using your preferred nutrition calculator.

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