TheKitchn.com

Hey, did you know that butter makes everything better? Even pizza dough! In fact, folding a little butter into pizza dough is my favorite way to take any store-bought pizza dough to the next level -- especially when I'm making a flaky, golden-crusted skillet pizza like this one for dinner.

These days you can actually get pretty decent pizza dough at most grocery stores. On its own, it's great for making a basic thin crust pizza, but add a little butter to that dough and you can make a pizza with flaky, buttery layers. It's an extra-special treat to perk up your weeknight!

To make those flaky layers, you just roll the dough out, spread on a few tablespoons of softened butter and then fold the dough into thirds over itself. Repeat this two times and you'll have create lots of nice layers.

This done, you can just roll out the dough and place it in your skillet. Assuming your skillet is well-seasoned, you won't even need to oil it!

I really like making my skillet pizzas deep-dish style. This means pizza with a little more heft and with the layers built in reverse: cheese, peppers, pepperoni and sauce last. Obviously, you could use any toppings here really, but I like to keep it simple.

This pizza will take about an hour to bake and it will make your house smell like a Chicago pizzeria. This little butter trick is one of my favorites of the year. It's easy to do, and your dinner guests will be in pizza heaven.

Pepperoni Skillet Pizza

Serves 4.

1 pound pizza dough (store-bought or homemade)

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

10 ounces mozzarella cheese, grated

4 ounces pepperoni

1/2 green pepper, thinly sliced

1 cup tomato sauce (store-bought or homemade)

Dried basil

Red pepper flakes

Salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 375 F. Roll out the pizza dough into a large rectangle about 12 inches in length. Spread the softened butter on dough in an even, thin layer. Fold the pizza dough into thirds, like a book (fold the right side into the center, and then left side over the right). Roll out dough a second time and repeat the fold. This will create many layers of butter inside the dough.

Lightly oil a 12-inch cast iron or other oven-safe skillet (if the skillet is well seasoned, you don't need to oil it). Roll the finished dough out into a large circle roughly 15 inches wide -- large enough to fit in the skillet and come at least an inch up the sides of the pan. Transfer the dough to the skillet.

Sprinkle the mozzarella cheese evenly over the crust, then top with pepperoni and sliced peppers. Spoon the sauce over everything and sprinkle with dried basil, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper.

Bake the pizza for 60 minutes. Let the pizza cool for 5 to 10 minutes before slicing and serving.

Recipe Note:

If you want an even cheesier deep-dish pie, add about a cup of ricotta cheese in the bottom of the crust, then layer in the mozzarella and other toppings!

(Nick Evans is a writer for TheKitchn.com, a nationally known blog for people who love food and home cooking. Submit any comments or questions to kitchn@apartmenttherapy.com.)