Dutch Oven Pizza with Pear, Brie, and Prosciutto
On July 26, 2022 (Updated May 07, 2024)
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This Dutch oven pizza is a fancy take on a simple pizza. Pear, brie, prosciutto, and arugula toppings give this deep dish pizza a fancy restaurant feel that you can cook in your own backyard.
Homemade Pizza in a Dutch Oven
There are several key elements to a great Dutch oven pizza, first is the crust! It has to be light enough to bake through, but sturdy enough to support all the yummy toppings. My dough recipe has been refined specifically to hold up to the high outer temperature of a Dutch oven and crisp on the outside while cooking through to perfect chewiness in the middle. It also comes together in 30 minutes (just long enough for your coals to cook down or your oven to preheat).
The second element is how the Dutch oven pizza is cooked. Deep dish pizzas are unique because they aren’t baked flat on a sheet, they are pressed into a pan with vertical side walls to form an outer edge of tasty, golden crust with a treasure of tasty toppings in the center. For this recipe, I went a little more exciting and upscale with red pear, brie, prosciutto, and arugula, but you can substitute whatever you like. My biggest recommendation is to avoid too much of anything. Too much sauce or cheese or moist toppings can make your pizzas soggy.
The final piece to the perfect pizza is the baking method. How you bake your pizzas is really crucial to the overall finished product. High heat and cast iron are my two most important factors in turning out great deep dish pizza.
How to Make Dutch Oven Pizza
Here’s how to make Dutch oven pizza.
- Make the pizza dough. This pizza dough takes a little extra effort, but the final result is completely worth it. Scroll to the printable recipe card below to learn how to make this yeast dough from scratch.
- Preheat. Light the charcoal and preheat and let it ash over while the dough rises. When the coals are ready, preheat the Dutch oven. Use a shovel to move the charcoal so you have about 10 pieces under the Dutch oven and 10 pieces on the lid of the oven. Preheat the Dutch oven while you prepare the pizza.
- Make the pizza. Roll out a large piece of parchment paper. Sprinkle the paper with the corn meal, then spread the dough over the corn meal. Top the dough with balsamic glaze, mozzarella cheese, red onion, brie, prosciutto, and pear slices. Transfer the pizza while still on the paper to the Dutch oven. Press the sides of the dough along the sides of the Dutch oven.
- Bake. Replace the lid and cook the pizza for about 30 minutes or until the crust is brown and the cheese has melted.
- Make the arugula. While the pizza cooks, mix arugula, olive oil, salt, and pepper in a small bowl and set aside.
- Slice and serve. Once the pizza is cooked through, remove it from the Dutch oven, top with the arugula mixture, slice, and serve!
How Long to Cook Dutch Oven Pizza
It takes approximately 30 minutes to cook Dutch oven pizza.
This time will vary depending on the thickness of your pizza dough, the consistency of the heat surrounding your Dutch oven, and the temperature of the coals.
Use this time as a guide and check the pizza starting at 15 minutes to adjust the temperature or total cook time. The pizza is done when the edges of the crust are golden brown, the crust is cooked through, and the cheese is nice and melty.
Tips for Making Deep Dish Dutch Oven Pizza
It can be a little trick to make a Dutch oven pizza, but I have a few tips to help your pizza turn out fan-freaking-tastic.
- Make a vent. Grab two metal skewers or hot dog sticks and set them on top of your Dutch oven before setting on the lid. This little vent around the lid of the pizza allows the steam to escape and the crust to bake through and brown and the cheese to melt without getting soggy.
- Try personal pizzas. The crust recipe below makes one, thick Dutch oven pizza. You can use the exact same recipe to make two smaller pizzas with regular crusts that fit perfectly in the bottom of a 14-inch Dutch oven.
- Use the oven. If you’re not cooking over an open fire, no worries! The same process can be followed with a 14-inch cast iron skillet and a 400 degree F oven. You can also closely replicate this recipe with 2, 8-inch cake pans in the oven, but you will lose some of that amazing crispy exterior on the crust because those cake pans won’t quite retain the heat like cast iron will.
More BBQ Pizza Recipes
If you’re looking for other grilled or wood fired pizza recipes, look no further than right here at Hey Grill Hey! From a classic BBQ chicken pizza to our ever-popular Thai chicken pizza, there’s a pizza perfect for you right here.
Dutch Oven Pizza Recipe
This recipe was created for you, backyard griller! Here at Hey Grill Hey, we’re in the business of helping you make better BBQ, feed the people you love, and become a backyard BBQ hero. You can find more of my smoking and grilling recipes here on my website (browse the Homepage for inspiration) on Instagram, YouTube or our Facebook Page.
This post was originally published in February 2018. We recently updated it with more information and helpful tips. The recipe remains the same.
Dutch Oven Pizza with Pear, Brie, and Prosciutto
Ingredients
Pizza Crust
- 2 packages active instant yeast
- 2 cups warm water 120-130 degrees F
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon honey
- 2 - 3 Tablespoons olive oil
- 4½ - 5 cups all purpose flour
- 1 - 2 teaspoons corn meal
Pizza Toppings
- 1 Tablespoon balsamic glaze
- 1 cup low-moisture mozzarella cheese shredded
- ⅛ red onion cut into thin slices
- 1 red pear sliced
- 4 ounces brie cheese cut into slices
- 2 ounces prosciutto thinly sliced
- 1 cup arugula
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil
- 1 pinch salt and pepper each
Instructions
- Proof the yeast. In a large bowl, combine the water, yeast, and sugar. Set aside and allow to proof for 5 minutes.
- Make the dough. Add the salt and honey to the yeast and then add in the flour 1 cup at a time, stirring until the flour is mostly incorporated before adding the next cup. Mix with a spoon until the dough becomes too thick and then begin kneading the dough in the bowl with your hands. The dough should be thick and soft, but not too sticky. Knead for 3-4 minutes.
- Rise. Pour 1 Tablespoon of olive oil over the bread and knead again, forming the dough into a ball. Drizzle with an additional tablespoon of olive oil. Cover and set aside to let the dough rise for 30 minutes.
- Preheat charcoal. Preheat the charcoal while the dough rises. It typically takes 20 minutes for the charcoal to get to the point where it is ready to cook.
- Preheat the Dutch oven. When your dough has risen, begin preheating your Dutch oven. Use a shovel to move around the charcoal so you have 10-12 pieces of charcoal under the oven and 10-12 pieces on the lid of your Dutch oven. Let it preheat while you prepare your pizza (about 5 minutes).
- Form the crust. Roll out a large sheet of parchment paper. Sprinkle it with the corn meal. Pour out your risen dough onto the parchment and start pressing it with your hands. Work from the middle and press with the heels of your hands until you have made a large 18-inch circle of dough.
- Add toppings. Spread on the balsamic glaze, then sprinkle on the mozzarella cheese, red onion slices, brie cheese, prosciutto, and red pear slices.
- Transfer pizza to Dutch oven. Lift and set aside the lid of your Dutch oven. Transfer the pizza while still on the parchment paper to the preheated oven. Press the sides of the dough into the parchment along the sides of the Dutch oven. Place 2 or 3 long metal skewers across the top of the Dutch oven before replacing the lid to create a vent for steam to escape.
- Cook. Cook the pizzas until the edges of the crust are golden brown and the cheese has completely melted, about 25-35 minutes (start checking at 15 minutes, just so you can make any heat adjustments as needed).
- Make remaining toppings. While the pizza cooks, mix up the arugula, olive oil, salt, and pepper in a small bowl and set aside.
- Enjoy. Lift the edges of the parchment to help get your pizza out of the Dutch oven and transfer it to a large cutting board. Top with the arugula salad, slice, and serve immediately.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
We have made many pizzas in our Rec-Tec smoker. Can this specific pizza be made with either the Dutch Oven or cast iron pan in a smoker?