No!!!

Yes, (evil laughter), another Mommy Blog (more evil laughter)!!! Life is a story, mine at the moment just happens to occur mostly at home, which means no sword fights or dragons, but plenty of peril, misadventure, and food. Like all good stories we will skip the boring parts (like laundry). So gird up your loins and let us commence with some real domestic adventures; don't forget your sense of humor.

Tuesday, September 12, 2017

The search is over, a stuffed crust pizza that doesn't leak!

I'm having a dubious flirtation with a 12" cast iron pan right now, mostly pizza for some reason, but I'm in love and something tells me this fling will last a lifetime, or at least the pan will and then some.  I've spent years trying to find the secret to a stuffed crust pizza (a pizza with melty wonderful cheese lurking inside the crust) that doesn't leak cheese everywhere and I may have actually stumbled across the secret.  I managed to do it with my pretzel/bagel cheese bites by boiling the dough before baking but you can't exactly boil a pizza crust, I'm sure someone has but I have no wish to try!  Usually the cheese melts and the water vaporizes and the expanding gases rupture the crust allowing the cheese to ooze all over everything, but not this time.  I've tried sealing the seams really well, I've poked air vents of every shape and size, but still no luck.  The rimmed pan must be the secret, because the pizza I made in the cast iron skillet came out lovely and wonderful and the crust was cheese filled and completely intact.

Here are the basics, adjust to personal taste:

1/2 pound pizza dough (I used a half recipe, ~2 cups of flour, of regular white dough from the bread machine)

Sauce, cheese, toppings, spices, oil of preference.

A 12" cast iron pan.

Oil the pan well and preheat oven to 500 degrees F.  Roll dough into a circle slightly larger than the pan.  Place the dough in the oiled pan, make sure it is snug against the iron with excess draped over side.  Cut preferred cheese into ~3/4 inch diameter strips and line the edge of pan with cheese (or use string cheese).  Flop dough from sides of pan over cheese and seal the seams, cut away excessive dough.  Add 1/2 cup of your favorite sauce, top with 2 cups of your favorite shredded cheese, and 1/2 cup of your favorite toppings.  Oil the exposed crust and shake parmesan, basil, and garlic over everything.  Heat skillet on stove top over medium heat, just until pan is hot, about 2-3 minutes, being careful not to scorch pizza crust.  Once pan is hot, stick in over and finish baking until crust is golden and the cheese is bubbly.  Let sit a few minutes then enjoy!

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