To make the dough for your Margherita Pan Pizza, add the flour, yeast, sugar, salt, olive oil to a large bowl.

Heat your water to between 100 degrees F and 110 degrees F, then pour into the bowl.

Mix to combine until it forms a sticky ball of dough.

Cover with a cloth and let sit at room temperature for 1 hour. It will puff up quite a bit over that time!

When you’re ready to make the pizza, preheat your oven to 525 degrees F.

While waiting for the oven to preheat, add the ingredients for the sauce (tomato puree, basil, parsley, oregano, onion powder, garlic powder, bay leaf, salt, pepper) into a small pot.

Stir to combine, bring to a simmer, cover, and cook for 10 minutes.

Add 1 tablespoon olive oil to your cast iron pan, coating the pan evenly using a brush.

Add the dough to the pan, pushing it out into a disk so that it evenly fills the bottom of the pan. (It’s ok if it doesn’t actually touch the sides, it will rise and fill the pan when baking).

When the pizza sauce is finished, top the dough with the sauce. (I use the whole thing, if you prefer less sauce, add as much or as little as you like). You can add ingredients all the way to the edges. There will be plenty of crust underneath!

Top the sauce with the mozzarella slices.

Add to the oven and cook for 20 minutes.

Carefully remove the Margherita Pan Pizza from the oven and top with the fresh basil.