Real Pizzas

[Pop_Rivit]

The "frozen pizza" thread got me to remembering that I haven't made pizza in a while, so this evening I put together a couple of pizzas. Not including the time for the dough to rise, it took 15 minutes to make them and 20 minutes in the oven.

I use my cast iron to bake the pizzas in. I use homemade sauce and real tomatoes. The only thing from a can are the sliced olives-they aren't available fresh.

I used unbleached all purpose flour for the dough. I usually use unbleached bread flour, but we made a couple loaves over the weekend and I didn't have enough. The bread flour doesn't rise quite as much as the all purpose does.



The meat is ground turkey. My pizza (right) has ground turkey spiced with my own blend of seasoning, my wifes pizza (left) is mostly plain ground turkey with a couple of spoonfuls of spiced ground turkey mixed in. Real mozzarella cheese tops it off. The top edges of the crust are dressed with a little olive oil.



600 degrees and 20 minutes later with a little freshly grated pecorino romano cheese. I prefer the cheese with very little browning, however another 3 or 4 minutes would have browned it quite nicely.






They lift right out of the cast iron skillets. A quick wipe and the skillets are clean and the pizzas are ready to be cut.



It's extremely easy to adjust the dough to get a thinner crust. Sometimes I toss it before putting it in the pan to get it nice and thin. The crust has a nice crunchy texture and isn't doughy.

All together, it's about $7.00/pizza, 20 minutes of prep time, 20 minutes of cook time, and an hour to let the dough rise.

Why would anyone ever want a frozen pizza when a real pizza is so easy to make?

 

[HTSS_TR]

Yum, I love pizza and don't know how to make it myself so either go to pizza places or frozen ones. Yours look so good, too bad you're too far from California otherwise I would pay a visit and have some slices !

 

[spasm3]

Nice job Pop! Are those griswold cast iron pans or lodge?

 

[TxHeat]

Both the pizzas AND the pans are gorgeous! It takes many years to get a cast iron pan to that stage!

Very nice work all the way around!

Larry

 

[Mr Nice]

Looks delicious.

Dominos for me since I can pick up on the way home from work.

 

[theKman]

Yum! That's some work to be proud of.

 

[Warstud]

Do you deliver.

 

[JHZR2]

Thats about how we make ours except we cook them on a stone. If we put too many veggies in, they can get soggy in the middle.

Ill need to try this route. I like the size and self contained nature. Nice pics!

 

[Sayjac]

Looks tasty Pops. Good pics too.

 

[EdwardC]

Those look fantastic, any special recipe for the dough? It looks just like the level of crust that I prefer. I gotta try that sometime.

 

[morepwr]

I just ate and that still looks good enough that I could eat again!

 

[OVERKILL]

That looks fantastic! Definitely going to try it! Thank you for sharing.

 

[Brybo86]

Originally Posted By: spasm3
Nice job Pop! Are those griswold cast iron pans or lodge?


I bet lodge, the helper handle looks too squared, and Griswolds with the helper handle are.
....Rare

 

[daves87rs]

Yum!!

Now I'm hungry....

 

[horse123]

The only real (or good, interchangeable terms with pizzas) pizzas I've had have been in Italy. Usually when I post this I get violent attacks against me saying how amazing X brand pizza is and how I must be a moron that's only had terrible chain store pizza, but you know what, a little digging shows all the people that attack me have never had real Italian pizza. Nothing beats it. Although I can't say I've ever tried to make a pizza myself, so who knows how that would turn out.

 

[Pop_Rivit]

Originally Posted By: spasm3
Nice job Pop! Are those griswold cast iron pans or lodge?

I have mostly Lodge cast iron. I also have a Wagner skillet that I use on occasion.
Originally Posted By: EdwardC
Those look fantastic, any special recipe for the dough? It looks just like the level of crust that I prefer.

It's really simple.
About 4 cups of flour, plus a bit more for the counter.
A teaspoon of sugar.
1 envelope of dry yeast.
2 teaspoons of kosher salt.
1-1/2 cups warm (about 110 degrees water).
Around 4 tablespoons of olive oil.

Combine the flour, sugar, yeast and kosher salt in the bowl of a mixer. While the mixer is mixing the dry mix, slowly add the water and 2 tablespoons of olive oil.

Adjust the mix so the dough forms a ball (more flour if the dough is sticky, more water if it is too dry). Once the dough is mixed remove it from the mixer and kneed it on the floured counter until it's a smooth ball.

Grease a bowl 2 times the size of the dough ball with some of the olive oil. Add the dough, cover with plastic wrap, and place in a warm area and let it double in size (about an hour). Turn the finished dough out onto a floured counter and divide it into 2 equal pieces. Let the 2 pieces rest for 10 minutes before flattening and putting on a pan, stone or into a skillet. The more you toss it the thinner it becomes. If you like a thick crust then just work out out by hand without tossing the dough. Thin crust? Toss (or roll) it then put it onto the stone, pan or into the skillet.

Keep in mind that oven temperature has a huge impact on the crust-hotter is better. 500 degrees is the minimum-600 or more will yield a crust that has smaller air pockets.

Originally Posted By: LT4 Vette

Dominos for me since I can pick up on the way home from work.



The kicker is that pizza is so easy that you can make a pizza at home cheaper than a chain pizza, you can put fresh ingredients into it, you can make it exactly what you want, and since you know exactly what goes into it you can make it as healthy as you like. Quite frankly, if I can do it anyone can.

Originally Posted By: horse123
The only real (or good, interchangeable terms with pizzas) pizzas I've had have been in Italy. Usually when I post this I get violent attacks against me saying how amazing X brand pizza is and how I must be a moron that's only had terrible chain store pizza, but you know what, a little digging shows all the people that attack me have never had real Italian pizza. Nothing beats it. Although I can't say I've ever tried to make a pizza myself, so who knows how that would turn out.


The basics are the same. It's very easy to make this a "real" Italian pizza (yes, my heritage is Italian). If you leave off the olive oil dressing on the crust it will slightly char, exchange the ground turkey for some coppacola and prosciutto, toss in a few Italian herbs and you're all set.

Again, remember that pizza is extremely easy to make. If I can do it, anyone can make an extremely tasty pizza.

 

[OldSparks]

I make my dough in a breadmaker, as I am a bit lazy.

However, I understand if you let the dough rise slowly in the refrigerator, you can get fantastic results.

I make pizza twice a week in the winter. In the summer, I bake the pizza on a stone in the BBQ...

 

[sleddriver]

Originally Posted By: Pop_Rivit
600 degrees and 20 minutes later with a little freshly grated pecorino romano cheese.

600°F? I'm jealous Pop. My old oven barely gets to 475°F. You're right about high heat being key.

 

[bvance554]

Originally Posted By: OldSparks
I make my dough in a breadmaker, as I am a bit lazy.


I do the same. Throw the ingredients in and let the machine do the work. 1.5 hours later its ready. Similar recipe as Pop mentioned above but don't be afraid to tweak things here and there to your liking. I cook mine on some unglazed clay floor tiles - my imitation pizza stones

Put them in the oven as it preheats and make sure they're very hot before putting a pizza on them.

 

[Shannow]

Nice work Pop_Rivit, that's a daddy daughter occasional Saturday night here.

She makes great crusts, 2 cups atta flour, some butter rubbed through, yeast and normal bread making techniques...She does here own seasoning to bought tomato paste, and grates the (tasty) cheese...will have to have a crack at mozzerella.

I do mine in either a 10-11 cast iron fry pan, or a stone on the weber...thinking of building a fireplace when I do the back yard up.

What's interesting is I picked a skillet up identical to yours, and marked made in America on the underside (from a rural dump), that seasoned really well being unmachined on the inside, and is rapidly becoming my fave pan.