Hot Sausage Cast-Iron Skillet Pan Pizza
- Level: Easy
- Yield: 4 servings
- Total: 30 min
- Active: 30 min
Ingredients
1 cup diced canned tomatoes
2 tablespoons sundried tomato paste
1 large clove garlic, crushed
1 scant teaspoon (1/3 palm full) oregano
A pinch of sugar and salt
A few leaves of torn basil, plus a few torn to serve
1 pound ball dough from market or your favorite pizza parlor or EZ Pizza Dough, recipe follows
EVOO, for drizzling, and about 1/4 cup in a cup for brushing
1/2 pound hot Italian sausage
1 tablespoon cornmeal
1/2 tablespoon AP flour
Salt and pepper
Crushed red pepper flakes
About 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
About 1/4 cup grated Pecorino cheese
2 tablespoons water
About 1 tablespoon acacia honey
1 scant teaspoon Calabrian chili paste or chili flakes
Basil leaves
Fennel and Olive Salad, for serving, optional, recipe follows
EZ Pizza Dough:
1 cup warm water
1 package active dry yeast (look for pouches marked "For Pizza")
2 tablespoons EVOO, plus some for bowl to rest dough
1 tablespoon acacia honey
2 teaspoons kosher salt
3 cups AP flour
Fennel and Olive Salad:
1 small bulb fennel, reserve a handful of fronds
1/2 small to medium red onion
1/2 lemon
1/2 orange
Salt and pepper
1/2 cup oil-cured black olives
2 to 3 tablespoons capers
4 to 5 cups arugula or baby kale
EVOO
Directions
- Preheat oven to 525 to 550 degrees F, as high as it goes, with rack at center. Preheat cast-iron skillet, 10 to 12 inches, over medium-high heat. Preheat a second smaller cast-iron or other skillet over medium-high heat for the sausage.
- Gather your ingredients.
- In a food processor, whizz up sauce: tomatoes, paste, garlic, oregano, sugar, salt and a few leaves of basil.
- Stretch dough into an even round that will cover large skillet.
- Drizzle a little EVOO in smaller skillet. Cut sausage from casing, add to pan and lightly brown and crumble. Turn pan off.
- Sprinkle a little cornmeal and flour in larger skillet and press dough into and up sides as much as possible. The pan is hot -- reminder. Brush the dough with EVOO and season with a little salt and pepper or red pepper flakes. Top the dough with the sauce and sausage, scatter the cheeses over the sausage and place in oven.
- To the sausage skillet, add a little water, honey and chili paste and stir to combine (reheat your pan if it's not warm enough to heat the honey).
- Bake the pizza 15 minutes to deep golden brown and bubbly. Drizzle or brush the pizza with the chili honey mixture and top with torn basil.
EZ Pizza Dough:
- To a mixer with dough hook attached, add warm water and yeast and let the yeast bloom and foam, 5 minutes.
- Add EVOO, honey and salt and turn on mixer. Add the flour gradually to form dough. Transfer to a bowl drizzled with a little EVOO and cover; let stand 1 hour.
- Cut dough in half; wrap half the dough and freeze for later use.
Fennel and Olive Salad:
- Using a mandoline or very sharp knife, thinly slice the fennel and the red onion and place in a bowl. Add juice of orange and lemon and season with salt and pepper. Pit olives and coarsely chop; add to bowl. Add capers and arugula or kale. When ready to serve, add EVOO, 2 slow turns of the bowl, toss and serve.
Cook’s Note
You cannot make your own dough in 30 minutes, of course, but here's a simple recipe that makes 2 pizzas and you can keep it on hand in freezer.