Deep Dish Pizza

As you may or may not know, I LOVE Chicago pizza.  LOVE it.  Like we have it shipped to us on occasion. We made a special stop there on our way to Niagara to eat some.

So once in a while I will see a recipe for deep dish pizza on Pinterest.

And I usually pin them then put them to the side.

Mainly because I know that I am not going to make anything that tastes like Chicago pizza does.

At least I haven't.

Until tonight.

I decided to give this recipe a try.

I actually tripled the recipe and made three "pies".

And the verdict is...

Yum.

Okay, it isn't Chicago pizza.

It can't be.

I don't live in Chicago.

But it is a really good deep dish pizza.

I wanted to eat the whole thing.

The only warning I have with it (other than it is a LOT of calories if you eat the whole thing) is that it is a bit time consuming due to the rising of the dough.  I did it on a Monday which was a bit of a challenge with school, homework, and kid activities.  Next time I will make this on a weekend...

Here is the recipe for the crust.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups plus 2 Tbsp all purpose flour
1/4 cup cornmeal
3/4 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1 1/8 tsp yeast (I use instant)
5 oz warm water (or 1/2 cup plus 2 Tbsp)
1 1/2 Tbsp unsalted butter melted
1 tsp olive oil
2 Tbsp  unsalted butter, softened

Directions:
 Mix the flour, cornmeal, salt, sugar, and yeast together.

Add in the water and melted butter.

Mix together for about five minutes.  (You can use a mixer like in the original recipe; I usually just do it by hand)

Roll dough into a ball.  Place in a bowl with a little olive oil, coating the ball with the oil.  Cover and let rise until almost doubled (45-60 minutes).

After the dough has doubled, roll out into an 8 x 6 rectangle.

Spread the softened butter over the top of the dough (leaving a border around the edges).

Start at the short edge and roll up into a cylinder.  Flatten the cylinder (into another rectangle).

Fold the rectangle like a business letter, folding into thirds.  Form into a ball, pinching the seams.  Place back into the oiled bowl and let it rise again (about the same amount of time, until doubled).

Lightly oil a 9 inch pie plate/pan with olive oil.

Take dough and roll out into a 13 inch circle.

Place in the pie plate, pressing down on the bottom and up the sides.

Add cheese (I used about 8 oz of shredded mozzarella), the toppings (we had a cheese, a pepperoni, and a salami/sausage version), then top with sauce.  Add a little shredded Parmesan to the top.

Bake at 425 for 20-30 minutes, until the crust is golden brown.

Let it sit about 10 minutes before cutting.

Enjoy!