I think pizza might be my favorite food and has been since as far back as I can remember. What's not to love?! You can make healthy, veggie-topped flatbread pizzas, ooey-gooey cheesy bad for you pizzas, grilled pizza, pizza with an egg on top, pizza with a salad on top, personal pizzas, big giant pizzas, thin-crust pizzas, thick-crust pizzas, pizza with white sauce, pizza with red sauce....you get the idea.
So one kind of pizza I had never made (or barely eaten for that matter) is a deep-dish pizza. I have just never lived anywhere that had deep-dish pizza. Last weekend I decided it was time to rectify that and made my first ever deep dish pizza. It was SO good. I topped mine with italian sausage, peppers, olives and red sauce - delicious!!
This recipe from America's Test Kitchen is really easy. I did not follow their instructions for the sauce and filling, I just used what I had on hand instead.
DEEP DISH PIZZA RECIPE
(America's Test Kitchen)
Dough:
3 1/4 cups (16 1/4 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 cup (2 3/4 ounces) yellow cornmeal
1 1/2 teaspoons table salt
2 teaspoons sugar
2 1/4 teaspoons instant or rapid-rise yeast
1 1/4 cups water (10 ounces), room temperature
3 tablespoons unsalted butter , melted, plus 4 tablespoons, softened
1 teaspoon plus 4 tablespoons olive oil
Sauce:
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 cup grated onion , from 1 medium onion (see note)
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
table salt
2 medium garlic cloves , minced or pressed through garlic press (about 2 teaspoons)
1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes (see note)
1/4 teaspoon sugar
2 tablespoons coarsely chopped fresh basil leaves
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
ground black pepper
Toppings:
1 pound mozzarella cheese , shredded (about 4 cups)
1/2 ounce grated Parmesan cheese (about 1/4 cup)
Pepperoni, cooked sausage, caramelized onion, pitted olives, roughly chopped basil
Pepperoni, cooked sausage, caramelized onion, pitted olives, roughly chopped basil
Instructions:
For the Dough:
- Mix flour, cornmeal, salt, sugar, and yeast in bowl of stand mixer fitted with dough hook on low speed until incorporated, about 1 minute.
- Add water and melted butter and mix on low speed until fully combined, 1 to 2 minutes, scraping sides and bottom of bowl occasionally.
- Increase speed to medium and knead until dough is glossy and smooth and pulls away from sides of bowl, 4 to 5 minutes. (Dough will only pull away from sides while mixer is on. When mixer is off, dough will fall back to sides.)
- Using fingers, coat large bowl with 1 teaspoon olive oil, rubbing excess oil from fingers onto blade of rubber spatula. Using oiled spatula, transfer dough to bowl, turning once to oil top; cover tightly with plastic wrap.
- Let rise at room temperature until nearly doubled in volume, 45 to 60 minutes.
For the Sauce:
- While dough rises, heat butter in medium saucepan over medium heat until melted.
- Add onion, oregano, and 1/2 teaspoon salt; cook, stirring occasionally, until liquid has evaporated and onion is golden brown, about 5 minutes.
- Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
- Stir in tomatoes and sugar, increase heat to high, and bring to simmer.
- Lower heat to medium-low and simmer until reduced to 2 1/2 cups, 25 to 30 minutes.
- Off heat, stir in basil and oil, then season with salt and pepper.
To Laminate the Dough:
- Adjust oven rack to lower position and heat oven to 425 degrees.
- Using rubber spatula, turn dough out onto dry work surface and roll into 15- by 12-inch rec-tangle. Using offset spatula, spread softened butter over surface of dough, leaving 1/2-inch border along edges. Starting at short end, roll dough into tight cylinder.
- With seam side down, flatten cylinder into 18- by 4-inch rectangle. Cut rectangle in half crosswise.
- Working with 1 half, fold into thirds like business letter; pinch seams together to form ball.
- Repeat with remaining half.
- Return balls to oiled bowl, cover tightly with plastic wrap, and let rise in refrigerator until nearly doubled in volume, 40 to 50 minutes.
- Coat two 9-inch round cake pans with 2 tablespoons olive oil each.
- Transfer 1 dough ball to dry work surface and roll out into 13-inch disk about 1/4 inch thick.
- Transfer dough to pan by rolling dough loosely around rolling pin and unrolling into pan.
- Lightly press dough into pan, working into corners and 1 inch up sides.
- If dough resists stretching, let it relax 5 minutes before trying again.
- Repeat with remaining dough ball.
- For each pizza, sprinkle 2 cups grated mozzarella evenly over surface of dough.
- Spread 1 1/4 cups tomato sauce over cheese, add whatever toppings you want to use and sprinkle 2 tablespoons Parmesan over sauce.
- Bake until crust is golden brown, 20 to 30 minutes.
- Remove pizza from oven and let rest 10 minutes before slicing and serving.
