Skillet Pizza on the Grill Grate
Dough, marinara, and sharp alpine cheddar cooked in a cast iron skillet over coals.
- calories
- 620
- weight
- 9 oz
- cal / oz
- 69
- protein
- 24 g
- serves
- 2, scales
- prep
- 10 min
- cook
- 25 min
- total time
- 35 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
- Grill grate
- Campfire coals
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Vegetarian
- Real dishes
- Pre-mix at home
- Needs a cooler
- Actual cooking
Ingredients
| Pizza dough | 10 oz ball | or 2 cups dry pizza dough mix plus 180 ml cold water |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 2 tbsp | for dusting hands and the lid you stretch on |
| Semolina or cornmeal | 1 tbsp | keeps the crust from welding to the pan |
| Marinara sauce | 1/3 cup | shelf-stable pouch, not a jar |
| Alpine cheddar | 3 oz | shredded; an aged cheddar holds in a cooler for days |
| Basil | 4 tsp fresh, chopped | 1 tsp dried works and travels better |
| Olive oil | 1 tsp |
Method
- Build a hot fire and let it burn down to coals. Set the grate close, roughly 500F. Preheat the 12-inch skillet on the grate.
- If you brought mix instead of dough, add the water a splash at a time and knead in the bag for three minutes. Rest it 20 minutes while the fire settles.
- Stretch the dough by hand to about 10 inches on a floured surface. Work from the middle out and leave the outer inch alone so the rim stays puffy.
- Pull the hot skillet, dust the bottom with semolina, and lay the dough in.
- Spread the marinara to within an inch of the edge and cover with the cheddar.
- Set the skillet back on the grate and cover it, with a grill lid or an inverted pot. Cook 10 to 12 minutes, rotating the pan a quarter turn every few minutes so one side does not scorch.
- Check the underside with a spatula. Pull it when the crust is browned and the cheese has broken down. Oil, basil, then cut.
Cast iron solves the problem that makes campfire pizza fail: a grate puts open flame directly under thin dough, and it burns before the cheese does anything. The skillet spreads that heat into an even floor, and the preheat gives the crust its bottom in the first two minutes instead of the last two.
Covering the pan is the other half. Radiant heat from below cooks the base fine, but the top needs trapped hot air. A lid or foil tent turns the skillet into a small oven. Alpine cheddar is used here over mozzarella for a practical reason: it is a firm aged cheese, so it survives a cooler without weeping, and it melts without releasing the water that makes a soft crust.
Packing
Dough ball in a zip bag with a spoon of oil so it does not stick, in the cooler. Shred the cheese at home and bag it. Marinara pouch and semolina ride in the food bin.
Variations
- Dry pizza dough mix and powdered marinara make this a full backpacking meal if you already carry a skillet.
- Pepperoni or a pouch of olives goes on before the cheese, not after.
- No lid means no melted top. Tent the pan with foil instead.
https://www.lodgecastiron.com/blogs/recipe/grilled-margherita-pizza-recipe