Cast Iron Buttery Deep Dish Pizza Crust Recipes

CAST IRON BUTTERY DEEP DISH PIZZA CRUST

Steps:

• 1. PREP/PREPARE
• 2. THE DOUGH
• 3. Gather your ingredients.
• 4. Add the flour, cornmeal, yeast, oregano, basil, sugar, and the salt to a large bowl.
• 5. Mix to combine.
• 6. Chef's Tip: The making of the dough is best accomplished using a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook.
• 7. Add the melted butter, and the warm water.
• 8. Mix until the ingredients are combined, and the dough begins to crawl up the hook, about 3 to 5 minutes.
• 9. Place the dough on a lightly floured surface, and kneed for about two minutes. It should be elastic, and slightly sticky.
• 10. Place a bit of olive oil into a large bowl.
• 11. Add the dough, and turn to coat.
• 12. Tightly cover the bowl with cling wrap.
• 13. Place the bowl somewhere out of the way on your countertop, and allow the dough to rest for 1 to 3 hours, or until doubled in size.
• 14. Chef's Tip: You can speed the process up by heating up your oven to about 180f (82c), turning it off, and then placing the covered bowl in the oven.
• 15. After the allotted time, remove the cling foil.
• 16. Place on a lightly floured surface, and pat out, or roll into a rough rectangle.
• 17. Spread the softened butter over the top.
• 18. Roll the dough up, as you would dough for cinnamon buns.
• 19. Form into a ball, and place back into the bowl.
• 20. Chef's Note: DO NOT kneed the dough, just carefully shape into a ball.
• 21. Cover and place into the refrigerator, for about an hour.
• 22. Remove from refrigerator, and place onto a lightly floured surface.
• 23. Roll out into a circle, big enough to cover the bottom of a 10-inch (25cm) cast iron skillet.
• 24. Coat the bottom and sides of the skillet with the olive oil.
• 25. Carefully add the dough, and gently fit it to the skillet.
• 26. Cover the skillet and allow the dough to rest for 1 hour.
• 27. Place a rack in the middle position, and preheat the oven to 425f (220c).
• 28. Add the toppings to your pizza... Your choice.
• 29. Chef's Note: I use a tasty sauce with pepperoni, sausage, and a good buffalo mozzarella.
• 30. Brush a bit of olive oil on any exposed dough.
• 31. Place the skillet on the stove over medium-high heat, and cook for 2 to 4 minutes.
• 32. Chef's Tip: This will help to crisp up the bottom of the crust.
• 33. Add the skillet to the preheated oven, and bake until the cheese is bubbly and golden, about 12 to 15 minutes.
• 34. PLATE/PRESENT
• 35. Since this is pizza, serve it casual style with a nice cold beer, or beverage of choice. Enjoy.
• 36. Keep the faith, and keep cooking.

DEEP-DISH PIZZA DOUGH

Steps:

• Combine water and yeast in a bowl; let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes. Add flour, salt, sugar, and butter, stirring until a ragged dough forms. Transfer to a lightly floured work surface and knead with floured hands until elastic and tacky but no longer sticky, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a medium bowl brushed with oil, turning dough to evenly coat. Cover with plastic wrap and let stand in a warm, draft-free place until doubled in volume, 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 hours; or refrigerate until doubled in volume, at least 12 hours and up to 3 days (return to room temperature before using, 1 to 2 hours).

SKILLET DEEP DISH PIZZA

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Heat a skillet over medium-high heat with 2 tablespoons olive oil. Cook the sausage rounds until they turn brown on each side, 8 to 10 minutes.
• Grease the inside of a 12-inch cast-iron skillet with the butter. Place the pizza dough in the center and spread evenly towards the bottom edge and 1 1/2 inches up the sides.
• The order of topping layers is very important to achieving a crisp bottom pizza crust. Begin with the sausage. Evenly lay the sausage on the dough, followed by the mozzarella and marinara. Sprinkle the garlic and oregano on top. Finish with the Parmesan and drizzle with the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil.
• Place the skillet pizza on the bottom rack of the oven and cook until the edge of the crust is golden brown and crusty, 30 to 35 minutes. Remove and let rest for 5 minutes before serving.

CAST IRON DEEP DISH RECIPE (CHICAGO-STYLE!)

Steps:

• Set out a large 12-14 inch deep-dish cast iron skillet. Brush the skillet with olive oil, then sprinkle the bottom with cornmeal. Flour a clean work surface and roll the pizza dough out into a circle, 2 inches wider than the bottom of the skillet. (So a 14-inch circle for a 12 inch skillet.) Move the crust to the skillet and press the dough around the sides of the skillet. Let it rest while you make the sauce.
• Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Move one rack to the lowest position.
• Set a separate skillet over medium heat. Add the sausage and break it apart with a wooden spoon as it browns. Once cooked, turn off the heat and set aside.
• Set a medium saucepot over medium heat. Add the butter, chopped onion, and garlic. Sauté for 3-4 minutes to soften. Then add in the crushed tomatoes, Italian seasoning, sugar, and salt. Simmer for 5 minutes.
• Spread the shredded cheese in an even layer over the bottom of the pizza crust. Cover the cheese with the cooked sausage. Gently pull the edges of the pizza crust up the create a rim around the fillings. Then spread the chunky tomato sauce over the sausage.
• Bake on the lowest rack for 25-30 minutes, until the edges are golden-brown.
• Once out of the oven, sprinkle the top with parmesan cheese and parsley. Cut and serve.

DEEP-DISH CAST IRON PIZZA

Steps:

• Sprinkle yeast and brown sugar over warm water in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook. Let stand 5 to 10 minutes until the yeast softens and begins to form a creamy foam.
• Turn mixer to the lowest setting and slowly add 2 cups flour 1/2 cup at a time. Add garlic salt and 1/4 cup butter. Integrate remaining 2 cups flour and knead until dough is smooth and elastic, 5 to 7 minutes.
• Coat a large glass bowl with 1 tablespoon grapeseed oil. Shape dough into a ball and place in bowl, turning to coat all sides with oil. Spray a piece of plastic wrap with cooking spray and loosely cover bowl. Cover bowl with a towel and let rise in a warm area until dough has doubled in size, about 45 minutes. Punch down dough and allow to rest for 20 minutes.
• While dough is resting, heat a skillet over medium heat; cook and stir bulk sausage until browned and crumbly, about 5 minutes. Transfer cooked sausage to a bowl with a slotted spoon, retaining drippings in the skillet. Fry Italian sausage link in drippings until browned and no longer pink in the center, about 10 minutes. Slice sausage.
• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease a 12-inch cast iron skillet with 2 tablespoons grapeseed oil.
• Press dough into and up the sides of the prepared skillet. Poke holes in dough with a fork to prevent air bubbles. Spread pizza sauce around the base of the crust. Sprinkle 1/3 cup mozzarella cheese over sauce; layer half the bulk sausage, half the sliced sausage, and half the pepperoni over cheese. Repeat the layers of meat. Top with remaining 1/3 cup mozzarella cheese.
• Bake in preheated oven on the bottom rack until crust is golden brown, about 25 minutes. Brush crust with 1 tablespoon butter; season with Italian seasoning and garlic powder. Remove pizza from skillet and let rest for 3 to 5 minutes before slicing.

CHICAGO DEEP-DISH PIZZA

Steps:

• Pour water into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Sprinkle in yeast and let dissolve, about 10 minutes. Add olive oil, melted butter, sugar, salt, cornmeal, and most of the flour. Knead, stopping to scrape down the sides occasionally and adding more flour as needed, until smooth and elastic.
• Transfer dough to a lightly floured work surface. Knead in extra flour if needed. Roll into a ball and place in a bowl greased with 1/2 teaspoon olive oil. Cover with a plate and let rise in a warm spot until doubled in volume, 1 to 2 hours.
• Meanwhile, let pizza sauce simmer in a pot over low heat until very thick, 60 to 90 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
• Poke dough to deflate and turn out onto your work surface. Press and stretch out dough into a round shape 3 to 4 inches larger than a 12-inch cast iron skillet. Brush skillet with 1 1/2 teaspoons olive oil. Place dough in the skillet; stretch and pull to evenly distribute it over the bottom and sides.
• Lay provolone cheese over the bottom of the crust. Scatter fresh mozzarella on top. Add Italian sausage and firm mozzarella. Ladle pizza sauce generously on top. Grate Parmesan cheese on top. Fold the edges of the crust in towards the center to seal in the sides. Drizzle crust and center with 1 tablespoon olive oil.
• Bake in the center of the preheated oven until crust sounds hollow and pizza is beautifully browned, about 35 minutes. Let rest for 10 minutes before slicing.