Dutch Oven Pizza

dutch-oven-pizza

In the house or at the campsite, making pizza in a Dutch oven is great for summer cooking.

This recipe is safe for someone on the Specific Carbohydrate Diet, GAPS or modified paleo diet.

If I have a chance, I always try new camping equipment at home before taking the new item into the bush. Sometimes the new item never even makes it through the home trial. I have no tolerance for poorly made equipment that doesn’t deliver on its promises.

This week I’ve been testing a new camping Dutch oven called the Lodge 6 Quart Cast Iron Camp Dutch Oven. Keep in mind the Dutch oven is very heavy and would only be suitable for car camping, base camps, boating or canoeing.

Dutch ovens are not new to me. I’ve been using a Dutch oven my mother got at her wedding. That should be a testament to how robust a Dutch oven can be. This new Dutch oven is made for camping with a three legs on the bottom and the top of the lid. The lid is also extra thick and could be used as a fry pan or grill. These legs might not work on some stove tops but it worked well on my gas stove.

I seasoned the new Dutch oven with coconut oil before I started. This requires melting and letting the coconut oil just come to the smoke point and then to completely cool the Dutch oven. After the Dutch oven has cooled completely it is ready for cooking. This seasoning can be redone anytime the Dutch oven starts to stick.

I made an easy, paleo-pizza recipe for the test. This pizza is based on the recipe called? Upsidedown Pizza:

  1. I chopped and prepared the cheese, feta, pineapple, meat and vegetables.
  2. I precooked the meat topping. I browned the salted and finely sliced pork steak first, then added and browned the sliced onions. I set this aside for later.
  3. I took about a pound of meat and mixed it very well with some spices and one egg. After mixing, I made it into a ball which I pressed out to cover the bottom of the newly seasoned Dutch oven. This will be the meat crust of the pizza.
  4. On a medium flame, I cooked the meat crust. I spread evenly about 1/2 can of organic tomato paste while the meat crust was cooking. I did have to be careful not to burn myself on the hot sides of the Dutch oven.
  5. When the meat crust was mostly cooked through I topped the pizza with the cooked meat and onions. Then I added a layer of feta and two other kinds of cheese. I put the lid on and reduced the heat to low and simmered for 10 minutes. I removed the lid a few times to remove any steam (water) that would make the pizza soggy. The water collects on the lid. I dumped this water into the sink.
  6. The pizza was done very quickly and the house was not heated up by using the oven. I added some garden parsley and chives.
  7. This 9″ pizza was very filling. It fed two people to the overfull point. With a side dish the pizza could feed four people.