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Pour-in-the-Pan Pizza with Tomatoes and Mozzarella
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The crust for this pizza borrows from the Milk Street recipe for a light, open-crumbed focaccia, our re-creation of the focaccia we encountered in Bari, Italy. The dough is unusual in a couple ways: It uses so much water that it verges on a batter and it rises for at least four hours on the counter (be sure to place the bowl in a warm spot). After rising, the dough pours out onto a greased 13-by-18-inch rimmed baking sheet (also known as a half sheet pan) and rests for 20 minutes before being nudged with oiled fingers to the edges of the pan. Instead of making a single large pizza, you could make two 12-inch pies using low-lipped, disk-shaped pizza pans, like the ones used in American-style pizzerias; see the directions below.
To Top it Off
Because pour-in-the-pan pizza dough is extremely wet, it’s important to use toppings that are dry, or the pie will bake up with a soggy surface. The following are some of our favorite toppings; we suggest using no more than two in addition to the tomatoes and mozzarella. Scatter the ingredient(s) onto the tomato-topped dough just before adding the cheese. If you are using high-sodium toppings, such as olives or capers, you may wish to skip the salt that’s sprinkled on before baking.
Sliced pepperoni or salami
Black or green olives, pitted and halved
Roasted red peppers, patted dry and cut into strips
Marinated artichoke hearts, patted dry and cut into chunks
Capers, drained and patted dry
4 to 6
Servings
Tip
Don’t forget to mist the baking sheet with cooking spray. The olive oil alone isn’t enough to prevent sticking; a coating of cooking spray is important to ensure the pizza releases easily. Don’t use fresh mozzarella; it contains too much moisture and will make the surface of the pizza soggy. Likewise, be sure to drain the juices from the tomatoes.
6 hours
35 minutes active
400 grams (2¾ cups plus 2½ tablespoons) bread flour
2 teaspoon white sugar
2 ¼ ounce packet (4¼ teaspoons) instant yeast
1½ cup water, 100°F to 110°F
Table salt and ground black pepper
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided, plus more for oiling your hands
1 pound Campari or cherry tomatoes
6 ounces whole-milk mozzarella cheese, shredded (3 cups)
1 teaspoon dried oregano
Flaky sea salt, for sprinkling (optional)
Ingredients
-
400
grams (2¾ cups plus 2½ tablespoons) bread flour
-
2
teaspoon white sugar
-
2
¼ ounce packet (4¼ teaspoons) instant yeast
-
1½
cup water, 100°F to 110°F
-
Table salt and ground black pepper
-
3
tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided, plus more for oiling your hands
-
1
pound Campari or cherry tomatoes
-
6
ounces whole-milk mozzarella cheese, shredded (3 cups)
-
1
teaspoon dried oregano
-
Flaky sea salt, for sprinkling (optional)
Directions
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01In a stand mixer with the dough hook, mix the flour, sugar and yeast on medium until combined, about 30 seconds. With the mixer running, add the water and mix on medium until a sticky dough forms, about 5 minutes; scrape the bowl and dough hook once during mixing. Turn off the mixer and let rest 10 minutes. Add 2 teaspoons salt and mix on medium for another 5 minutes. The dough will be shiny, wet and elastic.
-
02Coat a large bowl with 1 tablespoon oil. Mist a silicone spatula with cooking spray and use it to scrape the dough into the bowl. Flip the dough with the spatula to oil all sides. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and let rise in warm spot for 4 to 5 hours.
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03When the dough is ready, generously mist a 13-by-18-inch rimmed baking sheet with cooking spray, then pour 1 tablespoon of the remaining oil onto the center of the baking sheet. Gently scrape the dough onto the center of the sheet and let rest, uncovered, for 20 minutes.
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04Meanwhile, heat the oven to 500°F with a rack in the lowest position. If using Campari tomatoes, cut them into quarters; if using cherry tomatoes, cut them in half. Place the tomatoes in a large bowl and mash gently with a potato masher. Transfer to a fine mesh strainer set over a bowl and set aside to drain until ready to use.
-
05After the dough has rested, oil your hands, and, working from the center, gently push the it into an even layer to the edges and into the corners of the baking sheet; be careful not to press out all of the air. It’s fine if the dough does not completely fill the pan, but it should come close.
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06Drizzle the tomatoes with the remaining 1 tablespoon oil, then toss. Scatter over the dough, leaving a narrow border. Let rest for another 30 minutes. Scatter the cheese over the dough, then sprinkle with oregano, pepper and kosher or flaky salt (if using). Bake until the surface of the pizza is golden brown and the bottom is crisped and well browned, 18 to 20 minutes. Slide the pizza from the pan onto a wire rack and cool for a few minutes before slicing.
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07How Make Two 12-Inch Round Pizzas: Follow the recipe to make and rise the dough. When the dough is ready, generously mist two 12-inch round pizza pans with cooking spray, then pour 1 tablespoon oil onto the center of each. Scrape half the dough onto the center of each pan. Continue with the recipe, allowing the dough to rest for 20 minutes before pushing it to the edges of the pans and adding toppings. Bake one at a time, reducing the baking time to 12 to 15 minutes.
Reviews
April 28, 2023
Easy and really good!
It seemed like a lot of steps, but it really worked and wasn't hard at all. Husband raved about it!
December 14, 2022
Delicious and foolproof
I love making pizza and am glad to add this to my repertoire. It is easy to make and quite tasty. No special equipment is needed and you can make it ahead. It comes easily out of the pan.
October 31, 2022
Look Ma, no hands!
I love that I didn't have to knead anything. My husband and I ate more than half the pan for dinner yesterday. We will be lucky to get three servings, forget 4-6. Can I proof the dough for more than 5 hours? Would like to start at night and pick up the next morning but that would be 6-7 hours later. Thank you.
August 22, 2022
Legitimately the best home made pizza, EVER
Excellent recipe. I add fresh basil leaves to mine, but otherwise follow recipe exactly. While it does take a while for the dough to be ready, it's worth it. Tip - let the dough fully proof for 4+ hours (and nothing less) otherwise it will taste too yeasty. But really - this pizza can NOT be beat.
July 30, 2022
My go to Pizza
After trying all kinds of pizza recipes this has become my go to. Not too difficult to make and serves well leftover.
I made it today with a cast iron skillet and it turned out really well. My skillet is really well seasoned. I didn't pre-heat it, just the oven (with a baking stone). I pushed the dough to fit the pan, and added toppings. Then put it in the oven on top of my stone. It turned out amazing. The crust reminds me of Pizza Hut crust – airy, crispy, oily, tasty... It's delish!
I put pizza sauce, shredded mozzarella, and sliced pepperoni on mine. I thought it came out beautifully! Kids loved it. It's easy enough to make any time kids want pizza. It's about 10 total minutes of work.
Loved this pizza! The crust was amazing! We were unable to get bread flour but had King Arthur’s all purpose, which is high in protein so we decided to try it...so glad we did! I chopped up and sautéed mushrooms until all the moisture was released for my half...also used half a teaspoon of oregano and half za’atar. Best pizza I’ve ever had...so easy, delicious and adaptable. Thank you!
Made this today and it came out great. Wondering if you can make a double batch of dough and refrigerate or freeze a batch for another day?
Can you recommend a substitute for bread flour? This is proving difficult to find during the pandemic. I do have plenty of AP flour and vital wheat gluten. Thank you!
Hi Amy,
Unfortunately, there isn't a substitution we can recommend that would not drastically alter the provided recipe.
Best,
The Milk Street Team
Actually, you can use regular unbleached flour with some Vital Wheat Glutton added to is. I did about 2 teaspoons of VWG to about 200 grams of flour. Worked like a dream. Bread flour is regular flour with some protein added - which you can get with vital wheat glutton. I did this yesterday, and my our in the pan pizza came out super yummy and airy.
Actually, you can use regular unbleached flour with some Vital Wheat Glutton added to is. I did about 2 teaspoons of VWG to about 200 grams of flour. Worked like a dream. Bread flour is regular flour with some protein added - which you can get with vital wheat glutton. I did this yesterday, and my our in the pan pizza came out super yummy and airy.
Hi Erin,
The note was stated in the recipe description. It is as followed, "If you do not have instant (also called rapid-rise) yeast, it’s fine to use one ¼-ounce packet of active dry yeast. But if so, stir the sugar and yeast into the warmed water, then let stand until the mixture is bubbly, about 5 minutes, before adding it to the flour (if the mixture does not bubble, the yeast is dead so you will need to get a fresh batch)."
Best,
The Milk Street Team
In your clarification about the yeast you state, "If you do not have instant (also called rapid-rise) yeast, it’s fine to use one ¼-ounce packet of active dry yeast...". As I read over other comments, it appears that this recipe has been doubled at some point. As this recipe calls for 4¼ teaspoons (2 x ¼-ounce packets) instant/rapid-rise yeast (as of 22 Dec 21), should your clarification now read "it’s fine to use TWO ¼-ounce packets of active dry yeast..."? Thank you.
I just read the description three times....a quick scan and two slow reads and the note that staff member Janelle C keeps mentioning is not there. Milk Street: give your customers some credit and maybe check the description again, or adjust it so the relevant part isn’t cut off on displays. When two people mention the same problem (and now three) consider it an alert that something really might be wrong with either how it is written or how it’s displayed. Maybe a paragraph was accidentally deleted?
Well, because the comment about the yeast was missing, I just made it following the recipe but with “regular” yeast. It was delicious. One problem I am having though is the dough sticks terribly to my pan, even when sprayed with Olive Oil nonstick spray and the tablespoon of olive oil poured directly onto the pan. This has happened both times I made the pizza. Any suggestions?
Well, because the comment about the yeast was missing, I just made it following the recipe but with “regular” yeast. It was delicious. One problem I am having though is the dough sticks terribly to my pan, even when sprayed with Olive Oil nonstick spray and the tablespoon of olive oil poured directly onto the pan. This has happened both times I made the pizza. Any suggestions?
In your clarification about the yeast you state, "If you do not have instant (also called rapid-rise) yeast, it’s fine to use one ¼-ounce packet of active dry yeast...". As I read over other comments, it appears that this recipe has been doubled at some point. As this recipe calls for 4¼ teaspoons (2 x ¼-ounce packets) instant/rapid-rise yeast (as of 22 Dec 21), should your clarification now read "it’s fine to use TWO ¼-ounce packets of active dry yeast..."? Thank you.
This was quite tasty. The dough said "focaccia" more than "pizzeria" to me, but that didn't keep my Long Island native, dyed-in-the-wool pizza-snob wife from asking for a third slice. Super easy so long as you plan for the resting time, will being going into the rotation for whenever I have a bit of suitable topping to use up.
This was so good! I used a 12 inch cast iron skillet, but I did set it on top of a pizza stone. I roasted garlic and added it to half the pizza to see, and I think I prefer it without the garlic. That's a shocker for me. One thing I will back off of is the flaky salt. It was borderline too salty to eat. This is the wettest dough I have ever made, but it did finally come together. It reminds me of a cross between focaccia and pizza. Will definitely make this again!
***Update: I made this several times, and it was always great. But now they've updated the recipe. Sometimes doubling recipes just doesn't work. I noticed the changes and decided to try it on the half sheet pan. Was not good at all. I will go back to the original recipe that makes one pizza, and I'll cook it in a cast iron skillet. It was always fantastic that way.
I am new to Milk Street and this was my first recipe. I love it, but I would point out to folks that may not have noted ...that it seems these recipes use Crystal brand salt. I made this with Morton’s and thought it seemed a lot of salt. While it turned out okay with 4 teaspoons of Morton’s, I do think it was a bit too salty. I am going to back off to 2 1/2 tsp if I make it again with Morton’s.... or just make sure I have Crystal.
It looks like this recipe was recently doubled. However, you still have 1 1/2 cups of flour listed. 400 grams of flour is more like 3 1/4 cups.
Yes, they ruined the recipe. The original was far better. This isn't perfectly doubled, as a few of the ingredients are the same or not completely doubled, even though it's twice the amount of dough. I'm so glad to have found the original recipe somewhere else online because I didn't take screen shots of it here. You can find it if you look. Several sites will the ingredients and then link you here for instructions.
I made this yesterday. It was more like a focaccia than pizza but had a nice texture and rise. One word of caution. I make Sourdough very often and thought while I was mixing that the 4 tsp. of salt seemed a bit excessive. I should have gone with my instinct because the end result was borderline over salty. If I make it again I will definately half the salt and leave off the shaved salt at the end. Salt can always be added at serving.
Making this for the second time today and absolutely LOVE. I have one question — is the 6 ounces correct on the cheese call out? It’s no where near three cups. THANKS for all your wonderfully creative and delicious recipes!
Agreed! Three cups of shredded mozzarella should be closer to 12 ounces. Is this another casualty in the doubling of the recipe I keep reading about in the comments? Considering the confusion concerning the yeast, salt (type, brand, & amount in step 1), and cheese quantity, perhaps a close re-examination of the recipe (and possibly republishing with a fresh comments page) is needed. Thank you.
A bit late to the party making this, but finally did it. Notes: I reduced the Kosher salt from 4 t. to 2 1/2 and it was still plenty flavorful. I baked at 475 on the convection bake setting and found that at 18 minutes, the top was extremely dark, but the bottom was not yet golden, so I slid it from the pan directly onto the middle rack with the oven off, to crisp up the bottom with the residual heat. With that much heat, there was also too little moisture left in the top--it had all evaporated off and had the texture of a frico cheese chip--delicious and VERY crunchy edges, but totally crisp and the crumb of the focaccia was nearly dry beneath it. Next time, I'll try it again with the fan off and perhaps I'll add the cheese 10 minutes in, so it gets melty but stays moist. The next day, I cut a cold square in half, flipped it so the bottom was on top, put some more mozzarella on it, popped it in my toaster oven, and then put the two halves together for a killer toasted cheese sandwich.
Hi! I'm curious. Why is the salt not added with the other dry ingredients? Wouldn't it be better distributed that way? Love your magazine!!
Based on a comment in the video for a related recipe, "Tomato-Olive Focaccia" from season 4, episode 16: "Secret Italian Recipes" (at the 5:32 mark), when the salt is added, it inhibits the desired development of gluten. That's why the dough is allowed to rest prior to adding the salt. Hope this helps!
Overall, this is a great recipe. It's a nice , and less messy, alternative to cooking a more traditional pizza on a stone--which often presents its own problems and challenges. I couldn't quite achieve the crisp bottom of the crust you spoke of in the video and that others have mentioned here. In fact, after 20 minutes in the oven, the crust was still underdone. Luckily another 5 minutes of cooking resolved that problem, and while, again, the bottom was not crispy, the crust was as a whole was cooked sufficiently and had a great texture. I know not all ovens cook at the same rate, so I'm thinking next time I'll up the temp. to 525. The biggest problem was that this recipe called for WAY too much salt. As per the instructions I added 4 teaspoons of kosher salt to the dough when mixing. I thought at the time that this sounded like too much, but I hoped that the other ingredients would balance out the sodium content. While to a small degree this was the case, the dough was still quite salty. Next time I will use half of the recommended salt, or perhaps even less, and I recommend that others do the same. This is the only major issue I had, but it's important for others to know about, especially those with high blood pressure. But again, overall this is a wonderful recipe, and I will be using it again (with the aforementioned modifications) many times!
This was awesome. Followed instructions exactly with exception of adding a few tablespoons of grated Asiago to the mozzarella. We have an Italian bakery in our old neighborhood that does almost exact same thing which they call “tomato bread”. Softer, airy than focaccia. FYI...a lot of Italian immigrants to Chicago where originally from Bari (my old neighborhood bakery & the neighbor deli included). Curious how much that played into the creation of Chicago deep dish which is different than the stuffed pizza Chicago is known for which has a more traditional pizza dough.
This was awesome. Followed instructions exactly with exception of adding a few tablespoons of grated Asiago to the mozzarella. We have an Italian bakery in our old neighborhood that does almost exact same thing which they call “tomato bread”. Softer, airy than focaccia. FYI...a lot of Italian immigrants to Chicago where originally from Bari (my old neighborhood bakery & the neighbor deli included). Curious how much that played into the creation of Chicago deep dish which is different than the stuffed pizza Chicago is known for which has a more traditional pizza dough.
I did it several time in a baking sheet (Nordic Ware) and each time pizza badly sticks. Don't know what goes wrong. I use plenty of oil. Any ideas?
Thanks, Greg
I'm having the same problem. Tastes great, but it's a disaster to remove from the pan, and it tears up the pizza, no matter how much oil I add before putting in the dough.
Parchment? different technique?
Could I mix the dough around 6 am, put it in the fridge and then take it out for room temp rise around 1pm? Since I work, this would actually let me make the pizza during the week and not just on weekends.
Followed recipe exactly and found the dough to be way too salty. May make it again cutting the salt down to a maximum of 1 1/2 to 2 teaspoons.
Hi Dee -
At Milk Street, we use Diamond Crystal kosher salt which is a coarser kosher salt. If you are using another brand of kosher salt or table salt you'll want to cut back to about 1/2 as much as called for in the recipe.
Best,
The Milk Street Team
I made this with table salt because the recipe says “table salt”, and not “kosher salt” like your recipes usually do. If you mean for people to use kosher salt, you should change the ingredient list accordingly.
Hi Tim -
As noted in the article here - https://www.177milkstreet.com/2020/10/kosher-salt-brand - we recently switched to Morton's Kosher salt for our savory recipes, since we found it was more widely used by our readers than Diamond Crystal, which was causing their food to be too salty. Because Morton's is more dense and coarse it doesn't dissolve as well as Diamond Crystal, so we found we needed to use table salt in our baking recipes to ensure the salt would dissolve in batters, doughs, etc.
Best,
The Milk Street Team
Hi Tim -
As noted in the article here - https://www.177milkstreet.com/2020/10/kosher-salt-brand - we recently switched to Morton's Kosher salt for our savory recipes, since we found it was more widely used by our readers than Diamond Crystal, which was causing their food to be too salty. Because Morton's is more dense and coarse it doesn't dissolve as well as Diamond Crystal, so we found we needed to use table salt in our baking recipes to ensure the salt would dissolve in batters, doughs, etc.
Best,
The Milk Street Team
I made this with table salt because the recipe says “table salt”, and not “kosher salt” like your recipes usually do. If you mean for people to use kosher salt, you should change the ingredient list accordingly.
Hi Tim -
As noted in the article here - https://www.177milkstreet.com/2020/10/kosher-salt-brand - we recently switched to Morton's Kosher salt for our savory recipes, since we found it was more widely used by our readers than Diamond Crystal, which was causing their food to be too salty. Because Morton's is more dense and coarse it doesn't dissolve as well as Diamond Crystal, so we found we needed to use table salt in our baking recipes to ensure the salt would dissolve in batters, doughs, etc.
Best,
The Milk Street Team
Hi Tim -
As noted in the article here - https://www.177milkstreet.com/2020/10/kosher-salt-brand - we recently switched to Morton's Kosher salt for our savory recipes, since we found it was more widely used by our readers than Diamond Crystal, which was causing their food to be too salty. Because Morton's is more dense and coarse it doesn't dissolve as well as Diamond Crystal, so we found we needed to use table salt in our baking recipes to ensure the salt would dissolve in batters, doughs, etc.
Best,
The Milk Street Team
I’ve made this five times now and love, love, love this recipe. The simplicity of the ingredients is what gets to me—so light, fresh, simple and yet so flavorful. Just a couple words of caution—I thoroughly burnt the crust two different times until I switched to a 450 degree oven, used the middle rack and baked for 15-18 minutes. This is a recipe I find to be very special. Thank you Milk Street.
Hi Rob -
Sorry we missed your question the first time. For some reason it doesn't show up in our queue. A starter is essentially flour and water so you need to account for the replacement of starter for those two ingredients. I would highly recommend using weights, rather than volume measurements, to manage the math of the replacement and, in general, when it comes to bread baking as it will yield more accurate results.
So, for example, if you have 8 ounces of starter, you will need to reduce the flour and liquid in the recipe by 4 ounces each. All other ingredients will stay the same. And by "liquid" I mean just the water in the recipe, not liquid fat or sweeteners.
That being said, we haven't tested this recipe using a sourdough starter so we can't be sure it will work.
Best,
The Milk Street Team
Should I also be looking at reducing the amount of yeast (given I am using sourdough starter which has a leavening effect)?
Hi Rob - This will be tricky to adjust for exactly how much leavening power your starter has to know how much yeast to eliminate. Generally speaking, experts say to reduce the yeast by half but you would have to be pretty confident in your starter's abilities. The dough will also take quite a bit longer to rise than with dried yeast so you will need to go more on feel and appearance than rise time. I might recommend using the discard from feeding your starting in the dough and keeping the yeast as is. That way you have a little more confidence in the rise but still get the flavor of the sourdough. Good luck!
Best,
The Milk Street Team
Hi Rob - This will be tricky to adjust for exactly how much leavening power your starter has to know how much yeast to eliminate. Generally speaking, experts say to reduce the yeast by half but you would have to be pretty confident in your starter's abilities. The dough will also take quite a bit longer to rise than with dried yeast so you will need to go more on feel and appearance than rise time. I might recommend using the discard from feeding your starting in the dough and keeping the yeast as is. That way you have a little more confidence in the rise but still get the flavor of the sourdough. Good luck!
Best,
The Milk Street Team
Super easy dough to make - very tasty and crust was crispy on the bottom. Used San Marzano tomatoes that I strained for several hours. Added some diced Italian dry salami and 2 cups of mozzarella. Next time, I think some garlic with the tomatoes (or use a pizza sauce) and some fresh basil on top out of oven and some Parmesan cheese sprinkled on dough first or after mozzarella would be nice additions. The dough is just so easy and good. I also would note that the pizza should come right out of pan and put on a wire rack. When I went back for seconds on pizza, the crust wasn’t as crisp b/c I left it in the rimmed baking sheet - I should have removed it to wire rack - I was in a rush to eat it right out of the oven I didn’t think to remove it to wire rack. Will make again for sure!
What is the ratio to acquire a thin crust or a thick crust pizza ? How do you require either one with the recipe
Hi Gery -
Our Pour-in-the-Pan Pizza is a specific kind of pizza with a very distinct crust designed to be a somewhat thinner version of focaccia or pan pizza. It's neither thick nor thin but has a nice, crunchy crust from the oil added to the pan. If you watch the video at the link you can see Chris make it (he makes the recipe in two pizza pans rather than a sheet pan) and get a closer look at the thickness of the crust - https://www.177milkstreet.com/2020/04/chris-pour-in-the-pan-pizza.
Best,
The Milk Street Team
After 5 hours of rising time, my dough had collapsed but not re-risen. I went ahead with the rest of the recipe and it came out fine, except I thought it was too salty, and in spite of spraying my pan and using the olive oil, it was very difficult to get out of the pan. I’m going to try again with a different pan to see if it makes a difference. I used a dark baking sheet, will try with a light baking sheet next time to see if that has an influence.
This is confusing. Am I supposed to use a rectangle pan or two circle pans? It's like the recipe was modified but they left a step in that does not belong.
Excellent! I followed the current recipe exactly with 2 tsp of table salt and there were no issues with saltiness. I made the pie on a half sheet pan and had no issues there either. The pie released fairly easy with a little coaxing. I split additional toppings, half artichoke hearts and capers and half pepperoni and olives. Will make again lots of times
It would be super helpful to know upfront that this recipe takes approximately six hours. It’s standard in online recipes to note prep time and overall time. Milk Street??
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Your First Issue
Would a 12” cast iron skillet or regular aluminum deep dish pizza pan work as well? Or flat pan, as shown?