Campout Pizza

About once a month in the fall and spring, we go on camping trips with my sous chef’s scout troop. After my first experience with patrol cooking (and my subsequent fear that I was going to get scurvy over that weekend), I decided that the adults needed their own food. While the decision was made unilaterally, it did get a lot of support from adults who had similar thoughts about the typical weekend fare. Thus began our “Campout Cooking” recipes tag.

Since that point, the adults have teamed up to make some really creative and delicious meals…to the point where the kids have really expanded their repertoires and begun to up their food game too. They’re always curious as to what we have come up with, and they use some of our ideas as a springboard for their own creativity. As I started to make this one, they were very intrigued, and a little confused at first. Then, as I built the pizzas, and they realized what was happening, their eyes widened at the meal, and they began to think about how they wanted to try making this in the future.

The first one that I made came out a little burnt for two reasons:

• I didn’t stretch the dough thin enough. This caused some uneven cooking, and the bottom was…shall we say over crispy (aka burnt)…while the top was too doughy.
• I didn’t cover the pan right away after adding toppings. This also contributed to the scorching of the bottom of the pizza, as the cheese didn’t have any help to melt via heat retention from above.

With those learnings in hand, I amended the process a bit for the second pie by making the dough thinner, applying the toppings more expeditiously, and covering the pan right away after the toppings were on. That pizza came out gloriously!

Time: 15-30 Minutes (depending on your toppings choice). Add more time if you’re Making Your Own Dough from scratch.

Ingredients:

• Pizza Dough.
• Toppings of your choice. We used Sautéed Mushrooms, but peppers/onions/pepperoni would be good too.
• A can of Fire Roasted Tomatoes or Pizza Sauce
• Shredded Mozzarella Cheese

Method:

• Optional: Pre-prep your dough for ease before you leave for camping. To do this, arrange some floured parchment on your counter, and roll your dough out to the size of your cast iron pan. Then, roll up your dough in your parchment so that no dough is touching itself in the rollup. Transfer to a zip top bag, squeeze all the air out, and seal.
• Slice and pre-cook any toppings you’re using. We used mushrooms, and they worked really well on the pizza. When your veggies finish, transfer them to a bowl to free up your pan.
• As your veggies cook, open your can of tomato product. Since we were camping, we used our Swiss Army Knife’s can opener.
• Turn your burner to low, and give your pan a quick oil spray.
• Get your dough in the pan.
  • If you prepped your dough per the optional bullet above, unroll it, and add it to your pan.
  • If you did not, then shape your dough by hand, and place it in your pan.
• Add and spread your tomato product and other toppings.
• Sprinkle your cheese atop everything.
• Cover your pan with a metal lid to form an oven type effect by keeping the heat in.
• Cook for 10-12 minutes to melt your cheese and cook your dough.
• Remove from your pan, and transfer to a cutting board for cutting.
• Plate, devour, and enjoy!