For many, the pie iron is a nostalgic piece of campfire cooking equipment that brings back memories of family trips, summer camp, and wholesome fun outdoors. It is also the easiest way to enjoy your own personal pizza pocket. So, what are you waiting for?
While there are endless iterations of things you can cook in a pie iron, we decided on a classic pizza pocket to start off. For this recipe, we made our own pizza dough (recipe included below), but it would work just as easily with pre-made, store-bought dough as well.
Start by lightly oiling the inside of the pie iron. Shape a piece of dough roughly into a square that is slightly larger than the size of your pie iron. Pie irons have a concave shape to them, so you will need a little extra dough to run it up the sides. Place the dough, add your cheese, then sauce, toppings, more cheese, and then your top piece of dough. Be sure to tuck the top piece of dough on the inside of your bottom piece of dough (creating an enclosed "pie"). Close the lid and you're ready to go.
When placing your pie iron over the fire or into the coals, make sure it gets even heat front to back. You can always flip the top and bottom, but even heat front to back is critical. We also suggest checking it often. Also, try to keep a medium level of heat. If the heat is too high, it will burn the outside without cooking the inside.
So if you really want to have some fun around the campfire this summer, pick up a pie iron and start making pizza pockets on your next trip!
Camping Meal: Pie Iron Pizza Pocket Recipe
Makes 4 servings
Ingredients
Pizza Dough
- 2 ¾ cups all purpose flour
- 1 packet rapid rise yeast
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 cup warm water
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
Fillings
- 1/2 cup pizza sauce
- 1 cup low-moisture shredded mozzarella cheese
- 1 green bell pepper, diced
- 4-ounce can sliced black olives, drained
- 16 slices pepperoni
- Oil
Directions
Step 1
Make the dough (can be done ahead of time!): In a mixing bowl, stir together the flour, yeast, and salt. Add the oil and water. Using a spoon or fork, mix the ingredients until a dough forms. Add additional flour if it seems too wet, then knead until a ball forms. Cover and let rise 20 minutes.
Step 2
Divide the dough into 8 pieces. Working with two pieces at a time, stretch and flatten the dough into roughly 4 ½ x 4 ½ inch squares.
Step 3
Oil the pie iron and press one square of dough into the bottom plate. Load up your ingredients: 2 tablespoons of sauce followed by the ¼ cup cheese, ¼ of the bell pepper, 1 oz olives, and 4 pepperonis. Top with the second square of dough. Close and lock the pie iron.
Step 4
Cook over the fire or on top of your campfire embers until the crust is golden brown, flipping as needed to ensure even heat. Exact timing will be variable depending on your campfire intensity, but generally, this will only take 2-3 minutes. Check often!
Step 5
Remove from the heat, then carefully unlock the pie iron and turn the pizza pocket out.
Step 6
Repeat with the remaining ingredients. Be mindful that the iron will be
hot
