Cast-Iron Pan Pizza — Detroit-Style Frico Crust at Home

In a large bowl, combine bread flour, instant yeast, and water. Mix with your hand or a stiff spatula until no dry flour remains — about 2 minutes. The dough will look rough and shaggy. Cover and rest 20 minutes.

Add the fine salt and 20 ml olive oil to the rested dough. Squeeze them in with your fingers until fully incorporated — the dough will feel slick, then come back together into a cohesive mass.

Over the next 2 hours, perform 4 rounds of stretch-and-fold, spaced 30 minutes apart. For each round: wet your hand, grab one side of the dough, stretch it up as far as it will go without tearing, and fold it over itself. Rotate the bowl 90° and repeat three more times. After 4 rounds the dough will feel noticeably smoother and hold its shape briefly before relaxing.

Cover the bowl tightly and refrigerate for 12–24 hours. (Same-day option: skip the fridge and let the dough rise at room temperature for 3–4 hours until roughly doubled. Flavor and crumb openness will be less developed.)

When ready to bake, pour 60 ml olive oil into a 23×33 cm (9×13 inch) dark metal baking pan or well-seasoned cast-iron skillet. Tilt to coat the base and partway up the sides. Transfer the cold dough to the pan and turn it to coat in oil. Using oiled fingertips, press it toward the edges — if it springs back, cover and rest 15 minutes, then continue pressing. The dough should reach all four corners.

Cover loosely and proof at room temperature for 2 hours until the dough is visibly puffy and the surface shows bubbles. Meanwhile, position an oven rack in the lowest slot and preheat to 260°C (500°F) — allow at least 45 minutes for the oven to fully saturate.

Make the sauce: stir together crushed tomatoes, grated garlic, oregano, and a pinch of salt. No cooking required — it finishes in the oven.

Scatter the grated cheese evenly over the proofed dough. Use your fingers to press it firmly into the corners and along all four pan walls, edge to edge. Any gap between cheese and pan wall means no frico. Lay pepperoni over the cheese if using.

Spoon the sauce over the cheese in three or four stripes running lengthwise — do not spread it wall to wall. The exposed cheese between stripes continues browning in the oven; this is the Detroit-style look.

Bake 18–22 minutes until the top is bubbling, the sauce is caramelizing at its edges, and the cheese border has gone deep amber. Lift one corner with a thin metal spatula to check the underside — it should be golden-brown and crisp. If it needs more color, return to the oven for 2–3 minutes.

Run the spatula around all four edges to release any fused cheese from the pan walls, then lift the pizza out whole onto a cutting board. Rest 5 minutes before cutting — the crumb sets and the frico firms up from molten to crisp. Cut into rectangles.