Pizza in the Pan (no-oven Pizza)
Our next prank in our Italian Week: Vegan Pizza! In this case, a very special one …
Sometimes, you move into a place and the kitchen is very simple. Like the one that welcomed me when I moved in with my husband who was back then happily living in a traditional mongolian yurt in the hills of the Alentejo in South Portugal. That kitchen was cute, very basic and this is what its charme was. Being basic and totally immerged in nature. At the same time really a challenge. No oven, no grill, the flames dancing with the wind, during winter no electricity in the evening and from time to time no water coming out of the tap but storming in from outside into the plates … Oh how happy were the ants of all sizes to find yummy crumbs, sugar pots and much much more … However, in this case it is nice to see what you can cook in such a simple environment. And look, isn’t this a great pizza? It turned out that making delicious vegan pizza without oven is actually super easy!
So, no oven, no food processor – happily we could use my immersion blender with the solar energy provided. In this setting I learned the most! We adored good cuisine, especially italian cuisine. So I put all my mental limitations aside and dived into experimenting with what I had. This is how I created our very favorite pizza in the pan. Yes, it is possible to make a fine crusty pizza in a simple non-sticking pan from the chinese shop! Let me show how …
Our favorite toppings:
Pizza in the pan (no-oven pizza)
Equipment
- 1 non-sticking pan
Ingredients
For the dough
- 1/2 cup lukewarm water
- 3 g active dried yeast
- 1 tsp salt
- 2,5 cups all purpose flour
- some more flour
For the topping
- 2 handful fresh spinach
- 1 ripe tomato
- 1/2 cup tomato purée
- 3 tbsp dried oregano or herbes de Provence
- 3-4 tbsp capers
- 3 tbsp red pesto see recipe link in the notes!
- 3 marinated artichocke hearts (optional) the one in the can or jar
- black pepper and salt
- olive oil extra virgin
For the mozzarella
- 1 portion homemade mozzarella see recipe link in the notes!
Instructions
For the dough
- Note: Usually I make one big bowl of dough for bread and pizza likewise per day. If you want to only make 2 pizzas, proceed as follows. Otherwise take 4 times of the quantity indicated and use 1/4 of the ready dough for the pizzas, the rest to make bread.
- In a bowl, mix the water, the yeast and the salt with your hands until the yeast has dissolved. (The water really has to be handwarm, so not too warm, but not cold either!). Gradually add the flour, knead well with your hands. Cover with a lid or towel and let rise for minimum 1 hour or until the dough has doubled in size. Note: Also here I prefer to have the dough rise and develop flavor for at least half a day. It is therefor recommended to prepare the dough either in the morning for a dinner pizza or the day before!
- After rising time, add some more flour until the dough is still nicely soft, but not sticky. Form two balls and place on a floured surface. Cover with kling film or similar and let rest.
Prepare the toppings
- In the meantime, cut the spinach in large slices and boil in water for approx. 5 minutes. (This applies to wild spinach which is very common in Portugal. For a baby leave spinach, only cook shortly until it has wilted down, which goes fast!). Drain and leave the spinach in the colander/sieve.
- Cut the tomato in thin slices, then halves.
- Place all the ingredients for the topping ready to go.
Bake the pizza
- On a slightly floured surface, roll out one of the dough balls until it has the size of the pan you will be using. Normally it should not be thicker than 0,5, maximum 0,8 cm. However, if you like a more American style pizza, keep it thicker 🙂
- Heat up the non-sticking pan. Add 2 tbsp of olive oil (best if evenly spread with a oil brush). Carefully transfer the dough disk to the pan (Tipp: Use the rolling pin!). On medium heat, bake the dough until it makes brown spots on the bottom side.
- Flip the pizza dough. Evenly spread half of the tomato puree on the pizza dough. Depending on the product, you might want to salt it a little (some tomato purees are very little salted, some already salty enough). Decorate with half of all the topping ingredients. Sprinkle with half of the mozzarella. Season with pepper.
- Voilà. The first pizza is ready!
- Repeat the method to prepare the second pizza.
- Enjoy!
