Cast Iron Pizza Secrets

In the Hermitage, pizza is not a fast food, but an experience worth the effort. Here are some secrets from Hermit’s kitchen to help make your next pizza night less work and more fun!

Recipes: I use a focaccia bread recipe from King Arthur flour. I also got my inspiration from this recipe for cast iron pizza by Adam Ragusea, with some changes I’ve made below.
Pans: I use cast iron, because it retains heat longer and gives me great results for bread. If you are struggling to keep your breads and pizza from sticking to the pan, you should try putting your bread dough in the pan when it is PIPING hot (You should hear a sizzle from the dough it’s that hot).

Start your pizza night with gathering your ingredients. To save money, we get our cheeses in 5 lb blocks from the local restaurant supply store (open to the general public). I always use a combination of cheese for pizza to get the best flavor. Try Romano and Provolone.
Then, mix your bread to let it rise some. Feel free to add spices to your bread!
What is the difference between pizza and grilled cheese? The sauce! Make a really nice marinara sauce. I use: tomato sauce, tomato paste, diced tomatoes, garlic, onion, thyme (just a bit), oregano (main spice), basil, rosemary (a little bit), and olive oil. Sometimes I’ll add dehydrated spinach (we dried ourselves for long term storage). I do not add salt because the canned tomatoes already have plenty of salt, and the cheese on the pizza will add even more. Let the sauce simmer awhile to really get a good flavor.
Prepare your ingredients: Chop your olives, vegetables, peppers, tomatoes etc. Grate your cheeses.
Heat up your oven and your pans. If you have an apartment like mine, double check that your smoke alarm is deactivated for this cooking session. If you have an oven like mine and oiled cast iron, open a window as you’ll get a bit of smoke occasionally.
Roll out your bread dough for the pizza. Don’t punch out all of the air that you have in the dough. I’m still working on getting them rolled out to as thin as I’d like, as I’d prefer the Brooklyn style that you can hold, rather than the thicker bread type you cut with a knife and fork. Keep in mind that the dough will spring up in the hot pan and oven, so will be thicker than the current rolled-out thickness.
When your pans are really hot, put in the dough. This is the hardest part of the whole process. How do you get it into the hot pans? Several people, a spatula, and a prayer. Or, if you have really springy dough, lightly flour the inside of the dough, fold it in half (against the floured side to keep from sticking), then unfold it in the pan. Be careful not to burn yourself!
I like to let the dough bake a little before adding everything else, but am still experimenting with the bake time. You run the risk of getting too much of a rise from the dough (big air pockets), so don’t overdo the initial baking time.
The order of toppings is important. If you use cast iron like I do, you can put your toppings all the way to the edges. Put on the marinara first, making sure to be generous without turning the bread into dumplings. Next, put on the toppings, spreading them evenly. If you use pineapple, remember that it will be a bit watery and will lessen the ability of the cheese to get toasted. Last, put on the cheese. Keep in mind that hard cheese like Romano doesn’t really melt, but could burn if on top, so be sure to put it underneath the Provolone cheese. *Himmit believes that pineapple ruins pizza. Hermit can enjoy more pineapple when it’s cooked, and has now discovered a way of claiming “her” pizza! : )
Bake the fully assembled pizzas in their cast iron pans around 400-425 Fahrenheit until the cheese is browned on top and the bread is baked. You might need to adjust the temperature and cooking rack level depending on your specific oven set-up.
Let the pizza cool a little in the cast iron before sliding it out onto a board (just use a butter knife to loosen the edges, then tilt the pan to slide it all out).