Hot Sausage Cast-Iron Skillet Pan Pizza
Level: Easy,
Total: 30 min
Active: 30 min
Yield: 4 servings
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 a 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 a 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 the 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 the 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 the mixer. Add the flour gradually to form a 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 the freezer.
