I think one of the epitomes of comfort food is pizza, especially home made pizza I’m not hating on delivery, me and Papa John’s are BFFs but I am saying that freshly made dough, and the exact ingredients in the amount you want is just soooo darn good.
Speaking of freshly made dough, I have soo wanted to make from-scratch pizza dough for forever, the yeast, the rising, the whole shebang, buuut jeez y’all, most recipes I’ve seen need to rise overnight, be punched down, then rise again do a little dance for it etc., I only have one cheat day a week and don’t intend on waiting around on some dough to be ready for baking.
So that brings us to me totally cheating and buying Publix’s freshly made dough in their bakery section, and it is awesome y’all. I can’t imagine it tasting any better if I had spent a week letting it rise made it myself. I know not everyone has a Publix near them but I do know there are plenty of other pre-made pizza doughs available on the market if you also do not want to spend a million years making this deliciousness. This pizza was filled with things I love.. pesto, mozzarella, fresh basil, fresh tomatoes, more mozzarella…mmm and the crust was so soft and pillowy… droool. Of course, the skillet baked it perfectly per usual, you could definitely use a normal non stick pan but there’s just something about a good old seasoned cast iron skillet that gives it that oomph. Totally get in there and throw all of your favorite things in your pizza, when it’s this easy, why not right? π
Alrighty, start with your skillet and get it nice and oiled and place your dough to let it hang out for a little bit, also throw some oil on your dough so it doesn’t dry out…
While that’s hanging out, shred some mozzarella (you can use pre-shredded but this tastes so good) …
Now stretch out your pizza dough as thick or thin as you like…
Place your pizza sauce on the bottom…
Then place your fresh mozzarella and sprinkle your garlic…
Then sprinkle more mozzarella…
Now time for the oven and once out, I sprinkled the top again with mozzarella and garnished with basil and more tomatoes, delicious!…
- 1 (16 Ounce) Bag of Fresh Publix Bread Dough.
- 2 Cups of Mozzarella Cheese, Shredded.
- 6 Ounces of Fresh Mozzarella, Sliced.
- 1.5 Fresh Tomatoes, Sliced.
- 5 Tablespoons of Olive Oil.
- 10" Cast Iron Skillet.
- 2 Cloves of Garlic, Finely Chopped.
- 1/2 Cup of Pizza Sauce (I used Prego).
- 1/4 Cup of Pesto (I used Classico).
- 4-5 Leaves of Fresh Basil.
- Preheat your oven to 425 degrees F.
- Oil your skillet well with half of your olive oil, making sure to rub it up the sides as well with your hand or paper towel.
- Place your dough in your skillet pouring the remainder of your olive oil all over the dough, and let your dough sit out and rest for at least 20 minutes (if you bought your dough like mine).
- Using your hands, spread out the dough to the desired size and shape you like (I made my edges pretty thick and they puffed up so pretty and soft).
- Evenly spread your pizza sauce onto the crust.
- Now place your sliced fresh mozzarella on top of the pizza sauce and then evenly sprinkle your garlic onto the mozzarella.
- Now spoon the pesto evenly onto the mozzarella.
- Then place your shredded mozzarella making sure to completely cover all of the prior ingredients.
- Then place your tomatoes on top of the shredded mozzarella and bake for 20 minutes.
- When you take the pan out of the oven sprinkle more shredded mozzarella covering the tomatoes.
- Once all of the cheese has melted, garnish the top of your pizza with basil and more fresh tomatoes if desired.
- Obviously all ingredients and amounts can be substituted for your preferences π
- Warning, I initially placed the basil on top of the pizza before baking, but then quickly took it off of the pizza when I realized it started to shrivel and get crispy, so I don't recommend that haha.
April says
And just like that, my stomach makes the sound of a whale’s mating call.
I love publix’s pizza dough, I use it all the time when I want pizza because ain’t nobody got time for that mess of making it yourself when you’re hungry
Holly says
Bahaha!!! It is pretty super awesome stuff this pizza was crazy good!
Melissa says
This looks delicious! Was just wondering what size was the skillet you used for thus? I can’t wait to try it out.
Holly says
Thanks so much! Trust me it is soo delicious π I used a 10″ cast iron skillet for this pizza. -Holly