Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. While it heats, take a whole head of garlic and wrap it in a small sheet of foil. Place this on a baking sheet or in a baking dish and roast it for 1 hour. The garlic will become soft and sweet, perfect for our butter mixture.
After an hour, carefully remove the garlic from the foil. Allow it to cool for a few minutes. Once cool enough to handle, press the roasted garlic out of the cloves and into a bowl.
To the bowl with the roasted garlic, add the room temperature butter, minced parsley, salt, crushed red pepper, and dried oregano. Mix and mash everything together until well combined. Be sure to taste it and add a pinch more salt if needed!
Now, lightly flour your work surface and divide the pizza dough into twelve equal pieces. It’s okay if they aren’t perfectly shaped; we just want them roughly the same size for even baking.
Take each piece and roll and stretch it until it’s about 5 inches long. Spread about half a teaspoon of the garlic and butter mixture onto each piece of dough. Sprinkle a bit of mozzarella on top, pressing it into the butter.
Now comes the fun part! Tie each strip of dough into a knot and gently transfer it to a cast iron skillet. Repeat this process until all the strips are knotted and in the skillet.
Once all the knots are arranged, brush the tops with any remaining butter mixture. Cover the knots with a clean kitchen towel and allow them to rise until doubled in size, which should take about 30 minutes.
During the last few minutes of rising, preheat your oven again, this time to 375 degrees F. When the knots have risen, uncover the skillet and place it in the oven to bake for 20 minutes.
At the 20-minute mark, sprinkle the remaining cup of mozzarella over the top of the knots and bake for an additional 5 to 10 minutes. You're looking for a beautiful golden brown color on top.
Once done, remove the skillet from the oven and top with more minced parsley and crushed red pepper if you like it spicy. Let them cool for a few minutes before serving.
