Cake Pan Pizza

Those high sided cake pans were begging to become pizza pans. "Perfect," I thought.

I'm making a pretty standard crust these days. I start with one and a half cups of flour stirred together with a package of dry yeast and a few shakes of Mrs. Dash seasoning.

In the microwave, I heated three quarters of a cup of water until it was a tad beyond lukewarm. Then I stirred in two tablespoons of olive oil and 2 tablespoons of sugar because I like a sweet crust.

The water mixture got stirred into the flour mixture. As soon as the dough was formed, I turned it out on the counter top and kneaded it, adding more flour until it felt elastic and plump. I oiled the bowl and plopped the dough back into the bowl and covered it with plastic wrap.

When the dough had risen, I removed the wrap and punched it down with my fist. Then I pulled the dough apart into two chunks.

I grabbed two cake pans and put a spot of olive oil the size of a silver dollar in each one. One chunk of dough went into each pan. I pressed the dough along the edges of the pan and coaxed it up the sides. The dough didn't want to respond right away, but I kept pushing and smoothing until it looked like pizza crust.

The toppings went fast. I used spaghetti sauce, spread fairly thin. Then I cut a plum tomato into thin slices and layered it first, then put a layer of pepperoni over the tomato.

Two cheeses, asiago and parmesan, went on top, both shredded, and not much of either one.  I sprinkled oregano and black pepper over the top.

The oven had been preheated to 375 degrees, hot but not too hot, and the pizza was done in 10-12 minutes. Using a fork, I loosened it from the pan and slid it onto a wood cutting board to cool and slice.

Wow, it was good. The crust (we like to call it the pizza bones) was tasty with a bit of butter. And the pizza, well, homemade pizzas can be tasty.

Notice that this recipe makes two cake pan pizzas. Freeze one, if you dare.