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Lacock (Wiltshire, England)

After leaving Special Plants Nursery , we headed to Lacock, an English village that is virtually locked in time and owned by the National Trust. It was mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086, and many of the town's structures were built in the 14th century. The village has been used for many film locations, including some of the Harry Potter f ilms, Downton Abbey , Pride and Prejudice , Cranford , etc.  In addition to the residences (I cannot imagine living there with all the tourists), there were many gift stores, pubs, church and best of all, a chocolate shop. I had a delicious traditional sausage roll. St. Cyriac's Church - (Visited May 9, 2025) Text and photos by Phillip Oliver, Dirt Therapy

Cast Iron Pizza

 


We've had a lot of rain lately which means I've been in the kitchen a lot. I've been experimenting with pizza recipes and we've found one that we really like. This is from America's Test Kitchen (they have a video on YouTube demonstrating how to do it).  It is compared to the Pizza Hut pan pizza. The first time I made it, I used a regular sized cast iron pan and it was thick and tasted good. We like our pizza thin, however, and found a larger sized pan that is actually called a pizza pan. In this pan, the pizza is thin and just the way we like it. It is delicous!

Cast Iron Pizza

11 oz. bread flour
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. instant or rapid rise yeast
8 oz. water (105-100 degrees)

Whisk together the flour, salt and yeast. Add the water and mix until the dough just comes together. Knead in the bowl for a minute and form a ball. 

Place the dough in a pie pan (or similar) and spread it out into a 7 inch circle. Spray the top of the dough with oil spray. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate 12-24 hours.

When ready to bake, let it sit on the counter for 30 minutes.

Spread 3 tablespoons of oil over the cast iron pan. Transfer the dough to the pan and spread it out to 1/8 from the edge. Cover with plastic and let sit for 1.5 hours. 

Thirty minutes before baking, adjust oven rack to lowest position and heat oven to 400 degrees.

Cover the pizza with sauce and toppings and bake for 25-30 minutes. Transfer to stovetop and let sit for 3 minutes. Check the bottom of the pizza and if it needs more browning, cook on the oven for 3-5 minutes. 

The sauce recipe is available on the America's Test Kitchen website. However, we just use a bottled sauce and add the toppings we like.


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Text and photos by Phillip Oliver, Dirt Therapy

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