Cast Iron Skillet Pizza

Corn flour and butter make this pizza crust tender and nutty while the heat from the cast iron skillet helps make it nice and crisp. Feel free to experiment with this recipe; create your own variations using your favorite topping combinations. For a more traditional pizza, spread a cup of tomato sauce over the dough before adding the other toppings.

• 1 package (1/4-ounce) active yeast
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• 1 1/4 cups warm water (about 110°F)
• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, softened
• 3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 cup corn flour
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup kalamata olives, pits removed, chopped
• 1 cup quartered artichoke hearts
• 4 Roma tomatoes, thinly sliced
• 12 ounces whole milk mozzarella, shredded, or 12 ounces goat cheese, crumbled
• 1/4 cup pine nuts
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, more for oiling the bowl and skillet, divided
• 1/2 cup basil leaves, torn into pieces

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In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the yeast, sugar and water and let stand 5 minutes until foamy. Add the butter, flour, corn flour and salt and combine well, using the paddle attachment. Knead, using a dough hook, until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl and crawls up the dough hook. Add 1 to 2 tablespoons water if dough is dry and not coming together. If dough is too wet, add 1 to 2 tablespoons flour. Remove the dough from the bowl. Grease the bowl with olive oil and return the dough to the bowl. Cover and let the dough rise until it doubles in bulk, about an hour. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and divide in half. Shape the dough into two balls, cover and let rest for 15 to 20 minutes.

Preheat oven to 500°F. Oil two 9- or 10-inch cast iron skillets. Pat or roll dough into a circle and transfer it to the skillets. Press dough down into bottom of skillets and up the sides. Scatter dough with garlic, olives, artichoke hearts and tomatoes. Top with mozzarella cheese or goat cheese and pine nuts. Drizzle each pizza with a tablespoon of olive oil.

Bake on bottom rack of oven for 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 400°F and bake until pizza crust is golden brown and toppings are starting to brown, 10 to 15 minutes. Remove pizza from oven and top with basil.

Note: Toppings like pepperoni should be added when the oven temperature is reduced to 400°F, otherwise they will brown too quickly.

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