Skillet Neapolitan Pizza

Ingredients

• 16 ounces all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
• 0.3 ounces kosher salt, plus extra for assembly
• 0.2 ounces active dry yeast
• 12 ounces water
• 1 can whole peeled Italian tomatoes packed in juice
• 1 ball buffalo mozzarella or fresh cow's milk mozzarella, at room temperature
• 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• Handful fresh basil leaves

Directions

1. In a large bowl, mix the flour, salt, and yeast with a whisk until evenly combined. Pour in the water, then use your hands to mix until the dough gathers together and all the flour is incorporated. It will be quite sticky. Seal the bowl well with plastic wrap and leave it at room temperature for 8 to 16 hours.
2. Scrape the dough onto a generously floured board. With floured hands, cut it into 4 pieces, then shape each piece into a ball. Set the balls on the floured board with a few inches between them. Cover them with plastic wrap or a clean dish towel that has been well dusted with flour, and let them rise for 2 hours.
3. While the dough rises, crush the tomatoes coarsely in a food processor, blender, with a hand blender, or by hand. Add salt to taste. Tear the mozzarella into rough 1/2- to 1-inch pieces, then press out the extra whey.
4. Once the dough has risen, set 1 dough ball on a well-floured board and carefully stretch it into a round about 6 inches wide. Pick it up gently and lay it over your knuckles, turning it as you go so it stretches slowly to about 10 inches across.
5. Heat a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat until a drop of water beads and scoots across the surface, about 500 to 600 degrees F. Carefully lay the dough in the skillet and cover it with a snug lid. Cook for about 1 minute, until the underside is faintly browned and the dough puffs in places. Lift it out with a metal spatula, then press down any bubbles in the middle while leaving the edge bubbles intact.
6. Turn the dough over and place it back in the skillet with the cooked side facing upward. Cook, shaking the pan now and then, until the dough is deeply charred in spots. Move it to a cutting board and flip it so the side cooked first is on the bottom again.
7. If using a blow torch, carefully brown and char the crust edges in spots. If using a gas burner, set the pizza dough top-side down, meaning the side cooked second is facing down, with the very edge extending past the side of the skillet. Let that overhanging edge cook directly over the gas flame until it is well charred, then rotate and repeat until the full rim has been charred. You can also put a wire cooling rack right over the burner flame, turn the pizza dough over, and use the flame to brown and char the crust edges. If using an electric burner, skip the charring and move on to topping the pizza.
8. Check that the dough is right-side up, the same orientation it had when it first went into the skillet. Spoon on a few tablespoons of tomato sauce, keeping the puffed edges bare. Add a few pieces of mozzarella and a few basil leaves, then season lightly with salt. Drizzle with 1 tablespoon olive oil. Put the pizza back in the skillet, lower the heat to medium-low, cover, and cook about 3 minutes longer, until the bottom is nicely charred and the mozzarella has melted. If you are using a torch, you can also use it to help soften and melt the cheese.
9. Serve the pizza right away. Repeat the stretching, cooking, charring, topping, and finishing process with the remaining 3 balls of dough.