Cornmeal Skillet Pizza

Ingredients

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup yellow cornmeal, plus more for the skillet
• 1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 2 1/4 tsp instant yeast (1 standard packet)
• 1 1/2 cups warm water (around 100-110 F)
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, plus more for the skillet and dough
• Your favorite pizza sauce and toppings

Make the Dough

In a large bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, cornmeal, kosher salt, and instant yeast.

Add the warm water and 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Mix with a spatula or your hands until a shaggy, sticky dough forms and there are no dry patches of flour.

Cover the bowl and let the dough rise at room temperature for ~3 hours. You’ll perform two sets of “stretch and folds” during this time.

For each set, wet your hands, grab a portion of the dough, stretch it upwards, and fold it over the center. Rotate the bowl a quarter turn and repeat four times. Do the first set after the first hour of rising, and the second set after the second hour.

Divide and Proof the Dough

After the 3-hour rise, the dough should have noticeably increased in size and have bubbles on top.

Gently scrape the dough out of the bowl onto a clean work surface. Divide it in half and gently round each piece into a ball.

Let the dough balls rest on the counter for ~5 minutes.

Assemble and Bake the Pizza

Generously coat two 10-inch cast-iron skillets with a few tablespoons of olive oil. Sprinkle a tablespoon of cornmeal over the bottom of each pan.

Coat each dough ball with a little more olive oil and place one in the center of each skillet.

Gently press and stretch the dough with your fingertips to spread it out in the pan. Don’t worry if it doesn’t reach the edges yet.

Let the dough proof in the skillets for about an hour. During this time, preheat your oven to 500 F with a rack in the middle.

After an hour, if the dough hasn’t spread to the edges, you can gently press it out a little more.

Top the pizzas as desired, then place the skillets in the hot oven.

Bake for ~20 minutes, until the edges are golden brown and the cheese is bubbly. Check the pizzas after ~10 minutes; if the toppings are getting dark too quickly, turn the oven down to 450 F for the remaining time.

Carefully remove the hot skillets from the oven and let the pizzas cool for a minute before using a spatula to slide them out.

Cornmeal Skillet Pizza

This skillet pizza has a thick, chewy crust with a super crispy, cornmeal-dusted bottom. The dough is very wet and sticky, which is what gives it a light, open texture, and it comes together with just a few simple folds instead of traditional kneading. The whole thing is assembled and baked right in a cast-iron skillet, which gets screaming hot in the oven and essentially fries the bottom of the crust.

Prep Time20 minutes mins

Cook Time20 minutes mins

Rise Time4 hours hrs

Total Time4 hours hrs 40 minutes mins

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Ingredients

• ▢ 3 cups all-purpose flour
• ▢ 1/4 cup yellow cornmeal plus more for the skillet
• ▢ 1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• ▢ 2 1/4 tsp instant yeast 1 standard packet
• ▢ 1 1/2 cups warm water around 100-110 F
• ▢ 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil plus more for the skillet and dough
• ▢ Your favorite pizza sauce and toppings

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Instructions

• Whisk flour, cornmeal, salt, and yeast in large bowl.
• Mix in warm water and olive oil until shaggy dough forms with no dry spots.
• Cover and let rise 3 hours, performing stretch and folds at 1-hour and 2-hour marks.
• Divide dough in half, shape into balls, rest 5 minutes.
• Coat two 10-inch cast iron skillets with oil and cornmeal.
• Place oiled dough balls in skillets, stretch to fit.
• Let proof 1 hour while preheating oven to 500°F.
• Press dough to edges if needed, add toppings.
• Bake 20 minutes until golden and bubbly.
• Let cool 1 minute before removing from skillets.

Notes

If toppings brown too quickly, reduce heat to 450°F after 10 minutes.

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