Deep Dish Skillet Pizza
Chicago-style pizza built in a camp skillet: thick crust, cheese on the bottom, sauce on top.
- calories
- 620
- weight
- 7.5 oz
- cal / oz
- 83
- protein
- 24 g
- serves
- 4, scales
- prep
- 25 min
- cook
- 35 min
- total time
- 60 min
- water
- 180 ml cold
- cost
- $$
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Dinner
- Campfire coals
- Dutch oven
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Vegetarian
- Nut free
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Needs a cooler
- Actual cooking
Ingredients
| Bread flour | 2 1/2 cups | type 000 or any high-protein white flour |
|---|---|---|
| Instant dry yeast | 2 tsp | fresh yeast does not travel |
| Salt | 1 1/2 tsp | |
| Warm water | 180 ml | warm to the touch, not hot |
| Olive oil | 3 tbsp | one for the dough, two for the pan |
| Low-moisture mozzarella | 8 oz | sliced, or shredded coarse |
| Canned or pouched pizza sauce | 1 cup |
Method
- Mix flour, yeast, and salt in the pot. Add the warm water and 1 tbsp oil. Stir, then knead in the pot until the dough stops sticking to your hands, about five minutes.
- Cover and let it sit somewhere warm for an hour. Inside a jacket works if the air is cold.
- Oil the skillet or dutch oven heavily with the remaining 2 tbsp. Press the dough across the bottom and about two inches up the sides.
- Lay the mozzarella directly on the dough. Spoon the sauce over the cheese, not under it.
- Cover. Set over a bed of coals raked flat, with a dozen coals on the lid if you have a dutch oven. Keep the heat low and steady.
- Cook 30 to 35 minutes. The crust is done when the bottom edge is brown and lifts free of the pan with a spatula.
- Pull it off the heat and wait five minutes before cutting or the cheese runs out.
Chicago deep dish is a good camp pizza for one structural reason: the cheese goes under the sauce. That layer shields the dough from the wet sauce for the entire cook, so a crust that is baking slowly over uneven coals still comes out set rather than soggy. The order is not a gimmick.
The home version wants fresh yeast and an oven. Instant dry yeast does the same job out of a bag and survives a week in a pack. Low-moisture mozzarella replaces the fresh stuff, which sheds too much water and will not hold in a cooler. Coals under a lid run cooler than an oven, so give it the full 35 minutes and judge by the bottom crust, not the top.
Packing
Flour, yeast, and salt go in one zip bag at home, premeasured. Oil in a leakproof bottle. Cheese and sauce ride in the cooler; a pouch of sauce beats a can on weight and trash.
Variations
- Swap half the flour for cornmeal for a coarser, sturdier crust.
- A handful of dried oregano and garlic powder in the sauce covers for the fresh herbs you did not bring.
- Pepperoni or salami keeps fine in a cooler and goes on top of the cheese.
https://savoriurbane.com/pizza-chicago-style-reteta-de-deep-dish-pizza