Cast Iron Pan Pizza

I saw this recipe recently on Pinterest and knew this was one I had to try! Josh and I love our homemade pizza (why would we ever buy Papa Johns or Domino's again when we can get double the flavor & yumminess and double the ingredients at half the cost?!). I personally am a deep dish girl, while Josh likes his hand-tossed. Still this was one we both agreed on as a definite do-again! The overall time is 3 hours...but wait! Before you stop reading my blog post here, let me put your mind at ease and tell you the actual prep time is only about 20 minutes (the rise time for the dough is 2 hours and 15 minutes). There, relieved? Well without further adieu, here is the recipe for cast iron skillet pan pizza amazingness!

Ingredients for Dough:

• 1 1/4 cups lukewarm water
• 1 1/2 teaspoons yeast (1 packet)
• 3/4 tablespoon salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
• 1/4 cup corn oil (preferably darker color, though any corn oil will do-I actually substituted with canola oil)
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons corn meal to coat the dough
• Fresh ground black pepper, also for coating the dough

Toppings:

• 14 ounces pizza sauce
• 12 ounces shredded mozzarella cheese (plus additional cheese if you want)
• Optional: 1 large, fresh tomato, finely diced
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder (or 2 chopped cloves garlic; fresh garlic is always better if you have it on hand!)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons oregano
• 1/2 lb Italian sausage, 6 slices bacon, and/or 5 to 6 ounces sliced pepperoni (we're meat lovers so the more the better!)
• 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
• 8 to 10 ounces sliced mushrooms (I used green peppers!)
• More cheese to top it all off
• Additional pizza toppings as desired

Preparing the Dough:

• In a large mixing bowl or stand mixer bowl if you have one, pour in 1 1/4 cups of lukewarm water. Add yeast, salt, sugar, corn oil, and olive oil and mix together with the water.
• Add 3 cups flour and mix together thoroughly to create dough. I used my KitchenAid Stand Mixer with the dough hook for this step (it worked great and only took about a minute!). If mixing by hand, you only have to mix the dough for a few minutes; it does not require a long, tough kneading. The dough will be very wet and sticky, which is exactly how it is supposed to be! Cover the bowl with a damp cloth or towel, and let stand at room temperature for 2 hours and 15 minutes. 
• At this point, just relax. Pull out your favorite book or pop in a movie. I actually went and watch my little sister, Bethany's volleyball game! 
• After an hour and 45 minutes, when there are approximately 30 minutes left before the dough is ready, place cast iron skillet or pan (with a diameter of 10 to 12 inches) in your oven and preheat the oven to 500 degrees F. You don't have to grease or oil the pan in advance.

Making the Pizza:

• As the oven and iron pan are heating, prepare your ingredients. You want to have your pizza toppings ready to be added to the pan while it is still hot (vegetables sliced, meats cooked and prepared if you use sausage, bacon, chicken or other meats).
• When the oven and cast iron pan are at 500 degrees and the dough has risen for 2 hours and 15 minutes, it will be time to prepare your dough to go into the pan. Uncover the bowl and with your fist, gently punch down the dough to remove the gas.
• Put out a flat baking sheet or just lay out a large sheet of wax paper on the counter-top and sprinkle it with about 1 TBSP of the corn meal and spread it around the surface with your hands. Add on a sprinkle of black pepper, to add spice to your pizza crust. Uncover the mixing bowl and pour (or dump) the dough directly onto the corn meal. Sprinkle the remaining 1 TBSP of corn meal on top of the mound of dough, and add a little more pepper to the top. This will provide a drier surface on the dough and allow you to knead the dough and work at it with your hands. You only have to knead the dough for a couple of minutes or so, to help condense it and remove the extra gas from the dough. Don't worry about kneading or rolling into a circle. Just knead the dough into a roughly rough and flat shape to fit the circumference of your pan. The resulting dough will be very spongy and moist – it will be far more thick than flat pizza dough. This dough will still rise in your pan when it cool.
• Using heavy gloves or oven mitts, take the hot iron skillet out of the oven, and place it on your stove-top. Pour a little olive oil in the bottom of the skillet to coat. Then using a wooden spoon, pour (or dump) the dough directly into the cast iron pan. It will sizzle immediately when it hits the hot metal. Use the spoon to spread the dough around the pan as best as you can, forming a depression in the center with which to put on your pizza toppings, while forcing the dough towards the edges of the pan. Don't worry if the dough doesn't reach the edges of your pan; it will expand to completely fill your pan as it cooks. (Please be careful! – the cast iron pan is very hot) In this order, add your pizza toppings:
• Spread a thin layer of olive oil on top with basting brush
• Tomato Sauce (if using)
• Mozzarella cheese (plus other cheeses mixed in, if any)
• Tomatoes – spread them around over the cheese
• Garlic, oregano, and Parmesan cheese
• Mushrooms/Green peppers
• Any meats being used (sausage, bacon, pepperoni, etc)
• Extra cheese on top
• With your heavy gloves or oven mitts, place the whole pizza into the oven. Bake for 30 minutes at 500 degrees. Remove from the oven and place the cast iron pan onto a trivet, cooling rack, or stove-top. Let the pizza cool off and settle for 10 to 15 minutes before serving. Enjoy!