Lunch, Dinner and Side Dishes
Three Delicious Ways with Skillet Pizza
Three delicious variations for skillet pizza – Puttanesca, blue cheese and pancetta and goat’s cheese and salmon. There’s always a day, every late
- Prep 2 hours
- Cook 15 minutes
- Total 2 hours
In the meantime we may have to be content with just throwing open the doors to bring in some of the summer breeze. And we will most definitely enjoy a few skillet pizzas. What is a skillet pizza you ask? Well, the clue is in the name and it is only the most awesome thing ever. I will admit that am not great with pizza making – I hate transferring the pizza on to the the hot stone in the oven. But with skillet pizza you have no such issues – the dough is partly cooked on the stove so it becomes lovely and crisp and then transferred into the oven to finish cooking. This method guarantees a crisp base – no soggy middles here – and because you get smaller pizzas you can vary the toppings so that everyone gets their favourite with the option to share.
The three variations below – Puttanesca, blue cheese & pancetta and goat’s cheese & salmon are my favourites. Needless to say you can also use these on the normal larger pizzas but promise me you will give the skillet version a try – you are in for a real treat! The pizza dough can be made by hand, in a stand mixer or a bread machine – whatever works for you. Once your dough is ready, cut into small balls, roll them out and cook on the hot skillet until the middle starts to bubble up slightly and the edges start to crisp up. Add your toppings and then transfer to a hot oven to finish the cooking – it could not be simpler.
Recipe
Three Delicious Ways with Skillet Pizza
Three delicious variations for skillet pizza – Puttanesca, blue cheese and pancetta and goat's cheese and salmon. The toppings are for single servings of individual pizzas - adjust if making larger pies.
- Prep 2 hours
- Cook 15 minutes
- Total 2 hours
Ingredients
- For the pizza dough
- 1 lb 2 oz (500g) strong white bread flour (plus more to dust)
- 1 ½ cups (360ml) tepid water (you might need less - see below)
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp honey or sugar
- 2 tsp dried yeast
- ½ tsp salt
- cornmeal or semolina to dust the skillet with
- For the Puttanesca pizza (single serving)
- 2-3 tbsp passata or homemade tomato sauce
- 2-4 anchovy fillets (leave out for a vegetarian version)
- 4-5 mini mozzarella balls (dried with kitchen towel)
- cherry tomatoes on the vine or handful sliced cherry tomatoes
- handful pitted green and black pitted olives (sliced)
- sprinkling dried oregano
- fresh basil leaves
- olive oil to drizzle
- salt and freshly ground pepper to season
- For the blue cheese and pancetta pizza (single serving)
- 3 tbsp caramelized onion chutney
- 4-5 tbsp crumbled blue cheese such as Gorgonzolla
- 3-4 strips pancetta
- handfull pine nuts
- fresh rocket (arugula, optional)
- For the goat's cheese and salmon pizza (single serving)
- 4-5 tbsp goat's cheese (crumbled or a mix of feta and goat's cheese)
- 4-5 strips smoked salmon (or to taste)
- 2 tsp finely chopped red onion
- handful mini capers
- sprinkling of finely chopped fresh chives
- olive oil to drizzle
- salt and freshly ground pepper to season
Method
- 1
Put the flour and salt in a large bowl and mix together.
- 2
In a separate bowl or measuring jug, dissolve the yeast in the water then stir in the honey or sugar and olive oil.
- 3
Gradually add the wet ingredients to the flour and mix together with a wooden spoon. You might not need to use all the water or you might need to add a touch more flour. The dough should be fairly tight – not too wet.
- 4
Tip the dough onto a floured surface and knead for 10 minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic. Form into a ball.
- 5
Place the dough in a large oiled bowl and roll around so that the oil coats the dough. Cover with a plastic bag and leave to rise for 1- 1 1/2 hours or until doubled.
- 6
When you are ready to make the pizzas, have your toppings ready by the side of the stove. Cut your dough into 6 small sections and roll one out to around 8-inch (20cm) (about the size of your skillet). Keep any dough you are not using covered.
- 7
Preheat the oven as hot as it will go and set the shelf in the middle.
- 8
Turn the stove on medium and heat the skillet. Sprinkle with a little semolina and then place the dough on the hot skillet stretching it with your fingers so that it fills the surface of the pan (beware though the skillet and its handle will be hot).
- 9
Drizzle with a little olive oil and once the dough starts to bubble in the middle and crisp up at the edges, add your toppings.
- 10
For the Puttanesca pizza: spread the passata or tomato sauce over the base of the pizza, season with salt and pepper and sprinkle with oregano. Add the anchovies, mozzarella and olives and top with the tomatoes on the vine. Drizzle with a little olive oil and transfer to the oven. Bake for 8-12 minutes or until the cheese has melted. Add a few fresh basil leaves and serve.
- 11
For the blue cheese and pancetta pizza: spread the onion chutney over the base of the pizza and top with the crumbled blue cheese. Add the pancetta and and transfer to the oven. Bake for 8-12 minutes or until the cheese has melted and pancetta is crisp. Sprinkle with the pine nuts and add a handful of fresh rocket (arugula) just before serving if you like.
- 12
For the goat's cheese and salmon pizza: drizzle a little olive oil over the base of the pizza, add the goat's cheese and top with the salmon strips. Sprinkle with the onion and capers and drizzle with a little olive oil. Season and transfer to the oven. Bake for 8-12 minutes or until the cheese has melted. Sprinkle with the chives and serve.
Notes
• Make the dough in a stand mixer: add the dry ingredients and mix together briefly. Add the wet ingredients and knead with a dough hook for 5-7 minutes, then proceed with step 5. • Make the dough in a bread machine: check your machine can handle the quantity of flour first. Add the water, oil, sugar or honey, flour, salt and finally yeast (make sure it is yeast suitable for bread makers). Use the dough or pizza setting and then proceed with step 6.
