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.