The Recipe Box: Cast Iron Pizza

One of our budget cuts was eating out and that meant no more delivery or carry out pizza. At first we were buying pizza from the store, but that can cost as much as $8 or more depending on the brand. We have tried Aldi, and they have great pizza, but sometimes our local store selection just hasn't been great.

While browsing through my Facebook threads the other day, I came across a deep dish pizza recipe in a cast iron cooking group. I did have to make a few changes to it, because let's face it letting dough rise for 15 hours before using it is just a bit much. After the changes, we arrived at the most amazing deep dish pizza and it costs very little to make.

What You'll Need:

A cast iron skillet
Oil (any kind will do but I used the Soy/Olive mix from Dollar Tree)
Pizza Dough (if you don't have a recipe, try my Homestead Yeast Dough recipe. It makes 2 pizzas.)
Sauce (one jar of Prego will cover 4 pizzas!)
Cheese
Toppings of Your Choice

How to do it:

This couldn't be easier. Just take your pizza dough and place it in an oiled cast iron skillet. Set your oven to 425. Let the dough rise while your oven preheats. When the oven is ready, put as much or as little sauce as you want on the pizza. Spread the sauce and add cheese and your toppings.

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes.


Freezer cooking note:  This recipe is perfect for freezer cooking or for once a month cooking. I usually have our toppings ready to go and freeze the dough. That way we can add the toppings we want instead of having to choose from an already done pizza. It takes just a few minutes to add the topping so it's not really a time crunch issue.

To freeze the dough just separate it out, let it rise, then place in a floured freezer bag. Take it out the morning of pizza day and let it thaw. Bake as per instructions.

Frugal note:  Try to buy your flour and yeast at Aldi. It works great and saves a ton of money. Get your toppings at Dollar Tree (for pepperoni) or make your toppings ahead by using unflavored shredded chicken, sausage, bacon, or any topping you'd like.

The Recipe Box: Homestead Yeast Dough

One of the ways my family helps with budgeting is by hand down kitchen and household items that are no longer in use. My mother gave me a bread machine that she just didn't like. I tried several bread and dough recipes and none of them came out the way I wanted. They were either too dense or they just didn't bake up well. A few years ago, while searching for another recipe, I found a channel on YouTube called Homestead Acres. She did a video on dinner rolls and that turned out to be the perfect recipe for me.

Here is the video that gives the recipe and walks you through the process. Before you put it into action, let me share a few key points that I found with this recipe.

1) I don't bake it in the bread machine. I let it mix and rise, but remove it and bake in the oven.

2) You can freeze this recipe! If you want to freeze the dough, just separate it, let it rise again (it even rises great in the fridge) then oil the ball of dough, flour a freezer bag, and toss the dough in there. When you are ready to use it, let it thaw during the day and use it with dinner as normal.

3) We use this for bread as well as pizza dough. It makes the most amazing pizza dough.

4) This recipe makes 2 medium loaves of bread, 2 dozen dinner rolls, or 2 medium sized pizzas.