Coastal Kitchen - Boy Scout Dutch Oven Pizza

A cast iron pizza recipe from the kings of camping

Leave it to the Boy Scouts to discover a way to cook up a pizza in the wild. This recipe is not only easy, but fast and fabulous. Let's be honest, what camper can resist pizza?

A word about Cast Iron, Coals and Ingredients.

Cast Iron - We prefer to cook in cast iron when possible. If you're new to cast iron, take a moment to familiarize yourself with the many helpful communities of cast iron believers. The first step in successful cast iron cooking is to season your cookware. There are many ways to do this, here's what we do with ours and it works well. Seasoning Cast Iron

Coals and Temperature Control - There are a couple main methods for arranging your coals under and on top of your cast iron dutch oven during the cooking process. We use the Lone Star Dutch Oven Society "rings" method. Because charcoal briquettes can vary in size and quality, relying on a specific number of coals may not yield the desired temperature for cooking. Using rings of coals removes a lot of guesswork. More info on this method can be found under "Charcoal and Temperature Control" on the Lone Star Dutch Oven Page here.

Ingredients - We used ready-made ingredients that easily store in a cooler while camping. You can make your own biscuit mix, but we elected to go with something quick and would require less clean-up. Refrigerator biscuits aren't the answer for the purist, but we're feeding a hungry pack of kids...

Boy Scout Dutch Oven Pizza Recipe

This recipe is based on a recipe published in Scouting magazine by H. Kent Rappleye, a former president of the International Dutch Oven Society, Eagle Scout and Vigil Honor member of the Order of the Arrow.

Ingredients:

• 1 Cup pizza or pasta sauce
• 2 cans of refrigerated biscuits
• 24 pieces of pepperoni
• 1 Cup grated or shredded cheese
• *Optional - Diced bell peppers
• *Optional - Spices such as garlic, pepper, Italian seasoning

Directions:

Start a pile of 20-30 coals in your fire pit.

While the coals are building, make your pizza crust by lining the bottom of your lightly oiled (don't use non-stick spray on cast iron) dutch oven with two cans of refrigerated biscuits.

Press the biscuits into place with your hands so that there are no gaps between the biscuits. Pinch the biscuits together where necessary.

With a spoon, spread a thick layer of pizza or pasta sauce evenly over your biscuits.

*Optional - add seasonings such as garlic powder, pepper, and Italian seasoning.

Sprinkle 1/2 cup (or more) of shredded cheese evenly over the sauce.

Place a layer of pepperoni slices evenly over everything and put the lid on your dutch oven.

Make a ring of coals in your fire pit that matches the diameter of your dutch oven's base. Be sure to leave spaces for your dutch oven feet.

Set your dutch oven over the ring of coals and place a ring of coals on the outer rim of the lid. The coals should be "shoulder-t0-shoulder" on the lid.

Let the pizza cook for 25 minutes before lifting the lid to check for "doneness". Depending on weather, and cooking location (in the sun or shade), you may need to let cook a little longer.

If your pizza is almost ready, sprinkle more cheese and your diced bell peppers and let cook for another 5 minutes with the lid on.

Remove from the coals, remove lid and run a spatula around the edge of your pizza to loosen it from the oven.

Invert the oven over a plate until the pizza drops out. Invert the pizza on to another place, slice and serve!