By: Claire Åkebrand

I feel like I spent the last ten years trying to convince people that they too could make pizza. And if you’ve been here a while, you know the many angles of my efforts: the pizza margherita that taught me how to feel comfortable with a pizza stone; the pizza dough for dummies that made it even easier; the homemade pizza for beginners with even more handholding; the pizza with chile crisp that had an easier-than-ever sauce; and most recently, the pizza bianca with a dough so foolproof, it’s been the only one I’ve made for years. It’s also my most popular pizza and it makes a fantastic crust, soft and bubbly in the middle, and lightly crisp underneath, but if you love crispy crust, you’re never going to get a blistered-bottom pizza like you would from a hot wood-burning oven in your home oven. And I can’t tell you the number of times people have been to my home, tasted my pizza, and declared they love it but they really, really love a crispier crust. My friend Deb (not that one) is one of these people. For her, I’ve finally pivoted.

I feel a little sheepish about this because it took me so long to get here. Because a crispy crust, one made in a regular home oven, is already very much a thing. Many of you have likely already been making it this way. But for those of us (me!) who haven’t, and who have been clinging to dreams of blistering 900-degree pizza oven results in 500-degree ovens, this is the way. This is the simplest, most foolproof way to get a gloriously thick, beautifully bronzed, chewy-centered, and yes, crispy-bottomed pizza at home. It’s also very hands-off. You don’t need to preheat a stone, you don’t need to shimmy it off a peel. You just press the dough into a pan, let it rise, top it, and bake it. It’s a revelation.

There are many things that make this work:

• A high-hydration dough This is the secret to a fluffy, bubbly interior. While my last pizza dough was an overnight affair in the fridge, this one is a bit faster and warmer. You make the dough, let it sit on the counter for a couple hours, then divide it and press it into a pan (or pans).
• A well-oiled pan This is how we get the beautiful golden bronzed and crispy bottom and edge. You’ll use a generous pour of olive oil on the bottom of the pan before you press the dough in, and a few drizzles more around the edges before it bakes. You’ll be surprised by how much the crust drinks up and absorbs.
• A quick rise This pizza is meant to rise once in the bowl, and again in the pan. I recommend leaving it to rise in the pan for 60 to 90 minutes. You’ll be able to tell it’s ready when it’s soft, puffy, and you can see plenty of bubbles.
• A simple sauce that’s cooked into the crust Instead of a fancy tomato sauce, this pizza uses canned crushed tomatoes, salted, peppered, and seasoned with a little oregano, and then spooned directly over the dough before baking. There are no fancy tricks here, and I hope it makes you feel like you can bake pizza without too much work.
• A smart cheese topping You’ll use two kinds of cheese: shredded low-moisture mozzarella, which is what gives it a wonderful cheesy stretch, and then some fresh mozzarella (either torn or small balls), which browns beautifully. The fresh mozzarella will keep the center of your pizza a bit moister, too.

If you don’t have a round cast-iron pan, you can use a 9×13-inch pan instead. The crust won’t be quite as thick, and you’ll need to adjust the bake time (it’ll bake a bit faster, so keep an eye on it after 20 minutes) but it will still be delicious. If you don’t have any of these, you can use a 10-inch cake pan, or even a smaller 9-inch pan, just make sure it has high enough sides that the crust can rise without overflowing, and be sure to adjust the bake time down if it’s a smaller pan, or up if you’re using a larger one. (My advice is just to get a cast iron pan; they’re incredibly useful.)

I hope you love this one. The reviews for it so far (from people with a range of pizza opinions, including some pretty exacting ones) have been off the charts. It’s my new favorite and perhaps, finally, for good.

See more pizza recipes here.