Thin-Crust Skillet Pizza

If you're in a pinch for time and don't want to preheat your oven, make a pizza on the stove in less than five minutes.  The bottom crust is crunchy and the top is toasted for a just a minute under the broiler to give it that wood-fired oven feel - simple and fast.

If you make your pizza sauce ahead of time it's great.  Store bought pizza sauce is just as good.  Broiling the pizza is not necessary, but it browns the pizza on top to make it more appetizing.

Thin-Crust Stovetop Pizza

Oven Roasted Tomato Sauce: (or store-bought pizza sauce)

• 4 lbs. plum tomatoes quartered (about 8 cups)
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 4 cloves garlic, whole
• 2 tsp. kosher salt
• 1 tsp. red pepper flakes
• 1 tsp. sugar
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/2 cup snipped fresh basil

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.  Combine tomatoes, onion, garlic cloves, salt, pepper flakes, and sugar.  Toss tomato mixture with olive oil; roast 35-40 minutes until tomatoes have softened.  Remove from the oven and mash with a potato masher, keeping tomatoes a bit chunky.  Stir in basil.
This makes more sauce than you'll need for pizzas.  Use leftovers as a light pasta sauce.

Toppings:

• 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
• Sprinkle of oregano

Dough:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. sugar
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/3 cup beer
• Olive oil

Combine flour, baking powder, sugar and salt in food processor.  Add beer and 1 Tb. olive oil and process until dough forms a shaggy ball, about 1 minute.  Form dough into a ball, cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest 10 minutes.

Divide dough in half.  Roll each half into a very thin 9-inch round.  Heat 3 Tbs. olive in a large non-stick skillet over medium heat until just smoking.  Place one dough round into skillet and cook, poking any bubbles that form with fork, until bottom is golden brown and crisp, 3 to 4 minutes.

Flip dough and top with tomato sauce and half of cheese mixture.

Reduce heat to low and cook, covered until second side is crisp and cheese has melted, about 5 minutes
.

Broil for 2 to 3 minutes to get a nice crisp top crust.



~Adapted from Cook's Country

                        Cuisine at Home

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