Anyone who has been watching this space for a while now knows I love my cast iron skillet and one of my favorite things to make with it is deep dish pizza. Sauces and toppings and even the types of crusts change from time to time, but the constant it a very hot oven. That's not a typo - preheat yours to 550° F and get ready to experience and absolutely fabulous meal.
This version was a special request from my husband, who loves the turkey, bacon, and ranch flavor combination. The sauce is a basic white sauce with ranch seasoning. I like adding cheese to help it thicken and, let's face it, cheese is wonderful. You could skip the fresh chopped tomatoes at the end of the baking cycle, but I find they help add a pop of color and flavor that's hard to beat. Adding them right as the pizza comes out of the oven allows them to warm while the pizza cools a bit before serving.
Pour yourself your favorite beer, cider, soda, etc. and just dig into this glorious cast iron pizza. Not only is nothing else required, you probably won't have room for it anyway. Enjoy!
Turkey Bacon Ranch Cast Iron Pizza
- 1 round of pizza dough (this can be store-bought or homemade - I made mine in my bread machine)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 2 tablespoons Ranch seasoning
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 ½ cups coarsely chopped cooked turkey
- 4 thick cut slices of bacon, cooked and crumbled
- 2 green onions, sliced thinly
- Seasoning adjustments - garlic powder, salt, black pepper, red pepper flake, Italian seasoning, etc.
- 1 ½ cups shredded cheese - mozzarella is king, but I rather love a good sharp white cheddar
- 1 plum tomato, chopped
Make sure your pizza dough is at room temperature or slightly warm. Preheat the oven to 550°F. You can preheat later, but bear in mind that it takes a bit of time for most ovens to reach that temperature.
Pour the olive oil into a cast iron skillet. Rotate the skillet to fully cover the bottom of the skillet. Place the round of pizza dough in the pan and press lightly to cover the bottom of the skillet; cover with plastic wrap while you prepare the toppings.
Whisk the heavy cream and Ranch seasoning together in a small saucepan over medium-high heat until just simmering. Add the garlic and Parmesan cheese and continue whisking until the cheese is fully melted and the sauce is thickened. You can complete this step up to 24 hours in advance - just refrigerate the sauce after assembling.
Remove the plastic wrap from the cast iron skillet and, using your fingers, gently press into the dough to make little divots in the dough and extend the dough at least 1 ½ inches up the side of the skillet. Add the sauce and spread evenly over the crust. Add the turkey, about half of the bacon, and about half of the green onions. Make any seasoning adjustments before adding the shredded cheese and then add the remaining bacon and green onions.
Bake the pizza in the preheated oven for 10-15 minutes or until the crust is crisp and the cheese is perfectly melted. If you find that the bottom of the pizza is not crisp enough, you can put the hot skillet (use oven mitts!) on a stovetop burner over medium heat to crisp it a bit more. A few minutes ought to do it. Add the chopped tomatoes to the top of the hot pizza and allow it to cool another 10-15 minutes before slicing into 8 slices.
- Yields: 4 servings
- Preparation Time: 45 minutes plus dough-making time if making from scratch