Monday, May 25, 2015

Pizza In A Hurry Without It Being Takeout


Facebook can really be interesting. One of the unsolicited things I found there recently was a link to a site (Chef's Toolbox) that showed how to make pizza on the stove top. Since my sound wasn't turned on I probably missed some vital information and definitely missed what pan they were using, but I still decided to try the recipe the other day for lunch.

One of the things I noticed was that the pan had a lid which sealed the contents, but could also be vented. I happen to have a wide and shallow waterless cookware pan which I've had for over 40 years. It no longer has a handle, nor a handle on the lid, but it still works well for a sealed environment. Since it is not non-stick, I sprayed olive oil spray on the bottom and sides. Good thing, too, because I had to un-stick some of the cheese topping in order to get it out of the pan for cutting.

Because I was having to use oil spray, I couldn't mix up the crust in the pan as they did on the video. I mixed it in a bowl, then plopped it in the pan and spread it. Poor idea. Next time I'll turn it out onto a floured board, knead it enough to roll it, then roll it thin. The part I liked the least was the thick crust.

Because I always have baking ingredients on hand, it was easy to throw together the crust ingredients. I did have to search my pantry for a bottle of pasta sauce before I began, but I did have some. The fridge yielded fresh mushrooms (which I sliced), shredded mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses, and sliced turkey pepperoni. The spice cupboard had dried basil and oregano. OK, ready to go.


Into a medium bowl I put the following ingredients, then stirred them together:
1/2 cup self-rising flour
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 rounded teaspoon dry yeast (use the rapid rising kind if possible)
pinch salt
1 teaspoon honey
2/3 cup warm water

Then I put that mixture into the oiled and heated pan. Burned my finger trying to spread out the dough. As mentioned above, next time I'll have a rolled thin dough to put into the oiled pan.

The dough was quickly topped with about 1/4 cup pasta sauce, 10 or so slices pepperoni, all the mushrooms, a small handful of mozzarella and a little less Parmesan. About 1/4 teaspoon each of the dried basil and oregano finished it off. I put on the lid, increased the heat for a minute to create the seal, reduced the heat to low and let it cook 5 minutes.

Then I removed the seal, set the lid, slightly ajar, over the pan and cooked it for another 5 minutes. The recipe called for 10 minutes, but I was worried about a burned crust. Turns out I should have left it cooking another 2-3 minutes because the crust was still a bit uncooked. Still the flavors were delicious and it was nice and hot with melty cheese!


Used a large spatula to remove the whole thing to a cutting board, then cut it into 6 pieces. That was lunch for Sweetie and I, along with some fruit and salad. Very tasty for something that took less than 1/2 hour.


You can top it with anything you desire, just like any pizza. This is a fine thing for those days when it is too hot to use the oven, although I suspect that using the grill and a pizza stone would be even better and still not heat up the kitchen.

3 comments :

  1. I love trying out those somewhat ridiculous looking recipes I find on various social media sites -- this one looks like it kinda works. We have decided to put the camp stove outside for those hot days - and I think dragging the pizza stone out might just work!

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  2. LOVE the pizza and the flour containers. We simply can't get enough pizza.
    I'm trying for a whole wheat crust. I have a soaker working now for a crust tonight ... best be doing the dough mix soon.
    Where did you find the great flour containers? I'm guessing they're not glass but maybe lucite, the claps would be really great.

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  3. Tanita, the grill works beautifully for pizza. I put the pies on parchment and slide that onto he preheated stone, close the lid and they are done really quickly.

    Tanna, fresh dough makes such a difference. Love the idea of whole wheat that has fermented a bit. The containers are from King Arthur Flour. They are food grade plastic and the labels are from King Arthur, too, but the writing was done with a chalk-looking permanent pen...the real chalk kept getting rubbed off. I treated myself to the containers and labels when we finished the bake center since I knew I would have some open shelving for staples.

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