Stephanie Cooks: Cast Iron Pizza

Confession: I hate yeast. There. I said it. Sure, I've made bread, rolls, bagels, pizza dough... but each time I venture into a project with yeast I feel a little skittish. I think it comes from my many (many) flops with yeast. Now that I use the oven trick (preheat the oven to "warm" or the lowest setting your oven offers, turn it off, then put your dough in the turned off oven to rise) I am more inclined to use yeast because I typically am more successful. So when this recipe came across my radar I was reluctant, but excited.

You see, I had just bought this beautiful Le Creuset skillet from my friend Natalie who is a bit of a Le Creuset enthusiast, and I was dying to use it. Pinterest decided to toss this beauty of a recipe on my lap on the exact day my beautiful skillet arrived, so I knew it was meant to be.

I have to say this was so unbelievably amazing. The recipe was easy to follow, the dough was perfect (no really- perfect- I am using this pizza dough recipe from now on), and the end results were unreal. It was thick with a perfectly crisp crust. It was sturdy, perfect for a nice hearty pizza, and so easy to make. I really can't say enough about this. If you have the time to devote to making the dough and you have a good cast iron skillet, try this. Soon. It was divine!

Source: Adapted from Macheesmo

Ingredients:

Crust:
2 1/2 cups bread flour
1 scant Tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons kosher salt
3/4 teaspoon active dry yeast
1 1/2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 cup warm water
Sauce
Cheese
Toppings of your choice

Directions:

1- For the dough, mix together water, sugar, salt, and yeast in a bowl. Stir it together and let it sit for a few minutes until yeast is dissolved and foaming a bit. Then add in your flour and stir it together.
2- Use a hand dipped in water to vigorously work the dough into a ball. Knead for 8 minutes. If your dough is too dry, add a bit of water. If it's too sticky, add a bit of flour.
3- Place in an oiled bowl, cover, and allow to rise for at least 2 hours (I let mine go 4).
4- Punch the dough down, reroll, and set in the fridge for at least 2 hours.
5- Be sure to set your dough on the counter for an hour or more before shaping so it's not too elastic.
6- When shaping, roll your dough into a circle. Place inside your skillet.

Trim off any excess dough. Fold down the dough around the edges to form a crust. Top your pizza with sauce, cheese, and toppings.
7- In order to get a nice crust, place the skillet on the stove over a high flame for 3 minutes. This will allow the bottom to start browning.