Bar-Style Pan Pepperoni.
The bar version of pizza is not the fancy version. It's the better one: dough pressed into an oiled pan, cheese pushed right to the edge so it fries against the metal, and the little pepperoni that curl into grease cups.
Published July 14, 2026 · pan pizza · pepperoni · bar pizza · crispy crust
The pie
- 1 ball pizza dough, room temperature
- 3 tbsp olive oil, for the pan
- ⅔ cup pizza sauce
- 2 cups shredded low-moisture mozzarella
- 40-ish slices old-style pepperoni (the small, natural-casing kind)
- Pinch of dried oregano
The burnt cheese ring around the edge is called frico and it is legally yours. Do not share it.
Oil the pan
Pour the olive oil into a 10-inch cast iron pan or round cake pan and swirl it up the sides. This is not a suggestion — the oil is what fries the bottom.
Press the dough
Press the dough into the pan with your fingertips, working it to the edges. If it springs back, walk away for 10 minutes and try again. Let it sit, covered, 30 minutes if you have the time — the crust gets lighter.
Build to the edge
Sauce in a thin layer. Then cheese all the way to the metal — no naked border. The cheese touching the pan wall becomes the crispy edge that makes this style famous. Pepperoni on top, shingled generously.
Bake hot
475°F (245°C), bottom rack, 15–18 minutes, until the pepperoni cups are crisp at the edges and the cheese ring is deep brown. Check the underside with a spatula — it should be golden and crackly.
Rest, then cut
Two minutes in the pan, then slide it out onto a board. Cut into squares if you want to start an argument, wedges if you don't. Dust with oregano.
More pizza.
Garlic Fingers
The Atlantic Canadian classic: pizza dough brushed with garlic butter, covered in mozzarella and bacon, baked, cut into strips and dipped in donair sauce.
Donair Pizza
Halifax's two greatest inventions on one crust: spiced donair beef, sweet donair sauce base, mozzarella, onion and tomato. Chaos in the best way.