Cauliflower & Feta Cast Iron Skillet Pizza Recipe

This is the second skillet pizza I’ve prepared and I have to tell you, it’s just as good as the first. And in some respects, it’s better. The stand-out features in this recipe are the crust (type of flour used) and the cauliflower. Sure, there are other ingredients too, such as red bell pepper, garlic and onion, but those aren’t resting in my memory like the first two ingredient are.

The Recipe

This recipe takes advantage of a 12 inch cast iron skillet. It delivers a light, vegetable laden pizza that not only fills the belly, but tastes really great. Health-wise, I’d say it’s not bad. The flour used is white whole grain and there’s only a quarter teaspoon of salt called for. There is salt, however, in the two types of cheese used, but you can adjust that amount to your liking. Otherwise, between the good quantity of veggies and the whole wheat flour, there’s not much to complain about.

I’d like to thank Robin Asbell and the Lodge Cast Iron Cookbook for this one. It’s another recipe I’ll be preparing again and again.

Ingredients

Serves: 3

1 1/2 Cups White Whole Wheat Flour
1 Teaspoon Rapid Rise Yeast
1/4 Teaspoon Regular Table Salt
1 Teaspoon Honey
3/4 Cup Warm Water
2 Tablespoons Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
4 Cups Cauliflower Florets
1 Medium Red Onion, Chopped
1 Red Bell Pepper, Seeded & Chopped
2 Garlic Cloves, Crushed
3 Ounces Feta Cheese, Crumbled
2 Ounces Parmesan Cheese
1/2 Cup Fresh Parsley, Chopped
1/4 Cup of Scallions, Chopped

Step-by-Step Instructions

When going about constructing this recipe, remember that you’ll need some extra flour and some additional extra-virgin olive oil, so keep those ingredients handy. Also, if you don’t have rapid rise yeast, you can use regular yeast. You’ll just have to proof it. To do this, all you’ll need to do is warm the 3/4 cup of water to 110 degrees and add 1 teaspoon of white sugar to it. When dissolved, add 1 1/2 teaspoons of regular yeast. Wait a few minutes for it to start foaming and you’re all set. I know there’s a bit more yeast used with this method, but that’s normal.

Prepare the Dough

In a large stand mixer bowl, add the 1 1/2 cups of white whole wheat flour. Then, add in the 1/4 teaspoon of regular table salt, the 1 teaspoon of honey, 1 tablespoon of extra-virgin olive oil, the 3/4 cup of warm water and the 1 teaspoon of rapid rise yeast. Again, if you are using regular yeast, substitute those last two ingredients for your yeast mixture, as I described above.

Next, attach the bowl to your stand mixer and mix until all ingredients are combined well. What you should end up with is a slightly sticky dough. I coated mine with flour so it was easier to handle.

Finally, place the dough in an oiled bowl (1 teaspoon of olive oil) and flip the dough over a few times to completely coat all sides. Then, lightly cover with some plastic wrap and let rise for about an hour. The area the dough rises should be fairly warm. Over 70 degrees is best. It should double in size.

This is what mine looked like after an hour of rising.

Pre-Heat Oven

At this point, you can pre-heat your oven to 425 degrees. Also, fix your oven rack so it’s in the middle position.

Prepare Topping

In a large bowl, add the 4 cups of cauliflower florets (chopped down in size a bit), the 1 chopped medium red onion, the 1 chopped red bell pepper, the 2 crushed garlic cloves and 1 tablespoon of extra-virgin olive oil.

Once all the veggies and the oil is together, toss so everything is coated with the oil and it’s mixed well. After that, add the contents of the bowl to a baking casserole or something equivalent.

Bake the ingredients in the casserole, uncovered, for 20 minutes. This should soften them.

Add to Skillet & Cook

Add about 1 teaspoon of olive oil to your 12 inch skillet and coat the bottom and sides well. Add more if necessary. Then, take your risen dough out of the bowl and place on a floured surface. Press outward until it’s formed into a circle that’s about 14 inches across. Once that’s done, go ahead and place the dough into the skillet and shape it across the bottom and up the sides about an inch. It should look like the photo below.

Once that’s finished, add the contents of the casserole. Smooth out so the vegetables are even across the dough in the skillet. Finally, sprinkle the 3 ounces of crumbled feta cheese, the 2 ounces of Parmesan cheese, the 1/2 cup of chopped parsley and the 1/4 cup of chopped scallions.

When finished, add to oven and bake for approximately 30 minutes. After 20 minutes, check to make sure nothing is burning and that the topping is okay. If so, continue baking for the 30 minutes. If something is getting charred, you can add foil over the skillet to stop that from happening.

The Final Dish

There are a lot of quality ingredients in this dish. I think that’s why it’s so attractive.

To make cutting the pizza easier, I slid it out of the cast iron skillet and placed it onto my cast iron pizza pan.

That sure made things much more simple. Look at this crust! Perfect.

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