I'm looking for an easy (idiot proof ;-)) pizza recipe.

I'm going to attempt to bake a pizza in my toaster oven with a small iron skillet. I've never made pizza before (and come to think of it I've never successfully made a recipe using yeast either). I'd love a recipe I can't goof up!

(BTW my favourite kind of pizza is the New York kind)

mirileh
  • Posted by: mirileh
  • February 9, 2011
  • 4550 views
  • 15 Comments

15 Comments

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RobertaJ February 10, 2011
Also should add, preheat the pan AND the oven to its highest possible temperature for at least a good half hour/45 minutes before you put in the pizza.

Good luck !
 
RobertaJ February 10, 2011
Here's a link to countertop oven Pizza on the "Wild Yeast" blog, which is a great blog for all things bread and bread-like. I know you don't have a stone, but what *I'd* do in your place is take my small cast iron pan, put it on the very bottom rack of your toster oven, UPSIDE DOWN, and preheat it. Then I'd bake the pizza on the inverted bottom of the hot pan. Not in it. That won't give you the same effect, you need air circulating around the crust to give it that crispness and char. I believe they make pizza stones specifically for toaster ovens. Do a web search and see if you can find one. It would be a worthwhile investment. In the meantime, here's the link:

http://www.wildyeastblog.com/2011/02/08/pizza-in-a-countertop-oven/#more-8889
 
innoabrd February 10, 2011
I think you're going to have a hard time getting the heat you need in a toaster over. You could try an old Peace Corps trick, which is to use a dutch oven on the stovetop with sand or rocks in the bottom and then your skillet on top of the rocks/sand. I'd think about pre-heating the skillet too so the temp doesn't drop too suddenly when you put the skillet in. I've known people to have good baking results with this technique.

Well, good by Peace Corps standards...
 
latoscana February 9, 2011
Even a regular home oven doesn't make perfect pizza crusts because they don't get hot enough - most ovens top out at 500 degrees while a pizza oven, such as a brick one, can reach 900. But perhaps you could do mini-calzones in a toaster oven - use a pizza dough and make into pockets stuffed with the pizza "toppings." Here are some calzone recipes: http://www.food52.com/recipes/search?recipe_search=calzone.
 
Anitalectric February 9, 2011
I love your mini skillet idea. Sounds like fun. I agree, preheating it would help. You could stick it in the toaster oven to get hot while you prep the dough.

If it were me, I would bake the crust for a few minutes (on high heat) with no toppings so that it can crisp up a little, then take out and add the toppings. I have never tried making pizza in the toaster oven, but if for some reason the crust doesn't get as much color as you like, baste it with olive oil once or twice.

If it turns out you should post pics. Sounds exciting.
 
mirileh February 9, 2011
good guess, no oven here. also, not a ground floor (no outdoor grill). All I have is a stove top, a toaster oven and a microwave.
 
pierino February 9, 2011
Frozen pizza dough is a great convenience. It does hold up well. However, a skillet and a toaster oven will at best give you something like a Chicago deep dish pizza which is more like a casserole. It won't be New York or Italian. You can actually get great results on an outdoor grill with a wood charcoal (not briquette!) fire. It sounds as though you don't have a real oven.
 
Sadassa_Ulna February 9, 2011
There are a few previous pizza threads (pickles) you might want to check out by typing pizza into the "search questions" box at the top of this page. Lots of people gave great advice about pre-heating the baking surface and other tricks. I think the reason why some people have suggested using other [pre-made] bases is because a toaster oven loses heat easily. It might also have the heat source really close to the pizza, depending on the size of the model. Yeast dough can be tricky on its own (room temp., water temp. freshness of yeast granules, etc.). So if your pizza turned out less than desirable it would be difficult to know if it were the toaster oven or the dough. Do you have a regular oven? Do you have a cooktop or burner? If you are really going to try homemade dough and baking in a toaster oven, I would suggest pre-heating the little oven to the very highest temperature it can go and also pre-heat the empty skillet on your cooktop. One trick that works well for me is to bake the thinly stretched dough for 4-5 minutes before putting on the sauce and toppings. I would use the skillet upside down and sprinkle it with cornmeal before placing dough on it; I would place skillet (and/or rack) as low as possible in the little oven. Last, if you have a grocery that sells fresh or frozen pizza dough (Trader Joe's does) you might consider trying that first. That way you can test your oven's pizza-baking feasibility before experimenting with homemade pizza dough. Best of luck!
 
mirileh February 9, 2011
cool, I didn't know the site had a pizza recipe contest!
 
nannydeb February 9, 2011
You could try this recipe on a small scale, but I don't know how it will work in a toaster oven:

http://www.food52.com/recipes/4435_iron_skillet_pizza
 
mirileh February 9, 2011
I'd really like to try and make the dough too though.
 
nannydeb February 9, 2011
French bread makes a good quickie pizza too. For a thinner crust use pita bread.
 
innoabrd February 9, 2011
If you're going to go with mrslarkin's suggestion of using a ready-made base, why not use a bagel instead of an english muffin?!
 
mrslarkin February 9, 2011
Kudos for giving it a go! But you're not going to get a really great pizza in a toaster oven. If you're hell bent on using the toaster oven, start out with English Muffin pizzas. Just toast your muffins, then top with sauce and cheese and broil for a few minutes.

Pizza is super easy! You should give it a try. Start out with simple yeast dough. There are quite a few on this site http://www.food52.com/recipes/search?recipe_search=pizza+dough and other sites too. Just make sure your oven is blazing hot (at least 500 degrees F), your dough is room temp when you're ready to press it out, press it super thin, place on a parchment paper-lined cookie sheet, and use toppings sparingly for an authentic NY thin crust.

Good luck!
 
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