Pizza Essentials The Ultimate Deep Dish Crust Food

DEEP DISH PIZZA DOUGH

Steps:

• Combine water, yeast and sugar.
• Stir to mix and let stand until the mixture is frothy.
• Add half the flour and all of the oil and salt to the yeast mixture.
• Mix with hand until all flour is incorporated.
• Continue adding the rest of the flour until dough is still slightly sticky.
• Place dough on a a floured surface and knead until smooth but still tacky.
• Oil a large mixing bowl with the remaining two tsp oil.
• Place the dough in the bowl and turn to oil all sides.
• Cover with platic wrap and set in a warm, draft-free place until nearly doubled in size, 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
• Divide into 2 equal portions.
• Enjoy!

THE REAL CHICAGO DEEP DISH PIZZA DOUGH

Steps:

• Dissolve yeast and sugar in warm water in a bowl. Let stand for 5 to 10 minutes until the yeast softens and begins to form a creamy foam.
• Combine yeast mixture, flour, corn oil, and kosher salt in a large stand mixer with a hook attachment; knead until dough holds together but is still slightly sticky, about 2 minutes.
• Form dough into a ball and transfer to a buttered bowl, turning to coat. Cover bowl with a towel and allow dough to rise at room temperature until double in size, 6 hours.
• Punch down dough and let rest for 10 to 15 minutes. Press dough into a 10-inch deep dish pizza pan.

DEEP-DISH PIZZA

Steps:

• For dough: In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in 1 cup warm water. In a separate bowl, combine flour and salt. Add yeast mixture and oil. Mix thoroughly with a wooden spoon until dough forms a ball. Place dough on a well-floured board and knead until smooth, about 10 minutes. Dust a large bowl lightly with flour, place dough in it and cover with plastic wrap. Let dough rise until doubled in size, about 1 hour. Punch it down and, with a rolling pin, roll out dough until 1 inch thick. Place dough in a nonstick deep-dish pizza pan or 9" square casserole dish, pushing the dough up and slightly over sides.
• For pizza: Preheat oven to 400°F. In a small skillet, sauté onions and peppers in oil. Set aside. In a nonstick skillet, panfry turkey sausage until brown. Mix with onions and peppers. Distribute cheese over dough. Top with veggies and meat, then spread sauce over pie. Sprinkle on oregano, basil, hot pepper flakes to taste, and Parmesan. Bake 25 to 30 minutes until golden brown. Remove and immediately sprinkle on fresh parsley, if desired. Cut and serve.

DEEP-DISH PIZZA

Steps:

• Make the dough: Combine the flour, cornmeal, salt, yeast, olive oil, melted butter, vegetable oil and warm water in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook. Mix on medium speed until the dough comes together and pulls away from the side of the bowl but still sticks to the bottom, about 3 minutes. Reduce the mixer speed to low and knead 5 minutes. Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl and turn to coat. Tightly cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place, 1 hour.
• Meanwhile, make the sauce: Heat the olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the garlic and red pepper flakes and cook, stirring, until the garlic is slightly softened, about 1 minute. Add the tomato puree and 1 cup water. Stir in the oregano and 1 teaspoon salt. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until slightly thickened, about 8 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Generously brush two 9 1/2-inch round deep-dish pizza pans (or 9-inch cake pans) with about 3 tablespoons olive oil each. Divide the dough in half; press each half into the bottom of a pan. Let the dough rest, 15 minutes. Push the dough down and press it up the sides of the pans with your fingers. Layer the cheese on top of each crust and spread each with 1 1/2 cups sauce.
• Bake the pizzas until the crust is dark golden brown and the cheese is bubbling, 40 to 45 minutes (it will still be jiggly in the center). Sprinkle with parmesan (if using); let cool 15 minutes. Transfer to a cutting board and cut into wedges.
• You can freeze the baked pizza for up to a month. Let it cool, then tightly wrap in plastic and foil. To reheat, unwrap and bake at 325 degrees F until hot and bubbling, 50 to 60 minutes.

DEEP DISH PIZZA

Steps:

• In the bowl of your electric mixer- KitchenAid is perfect for this- dissolve the yeast in the water.
• Add the oils, cornmeal, and 3 cups of the flour.
• Beat for 10 minutes with the mixer.
• Add the dough hook and mix in the additional 2½ cups flour.
• Knead for several minutes with the machine.
• It is hard to do this by hand since the dough is very rich and moist.
• Pour out the dough on a plastic countertop and cover with a very large metal bowl.
• Allow to rise double in bulk.
• Punch down and allow to rise again.
• Punch down a second time and you are ready to make your pizza.
• Oil round cake pans or deep dish pizza pan.
• Put a bit of dough in each and push it out to the edges, using your fingers.
• Put in enough dough so that you can run the crust right up the side of the pan.
• Try to make it approximately 1/8" thick throughout the pan.
• The filling for 9 or 10 inch pan:.
• Place the cheese in tilelike layers on the bottom of the pie.
• Next put in the tomatoes and the basil, oregano, garlic and salt- reserve the Parmesan cheese for the top.
• Drizzle the olive oil over the top of the pie and bake.
• Additional variations: BEFORE you put on the Parmesan cheese and olive oil drizzle you might like to add any or all of the following:.
• Italian Sausage- hot or mild.
• Yellow Onions- peeled and sliced or diced.
• Pepperoni- sliced thin.
• Mushrooms- sliced.
• Green Sweet Bell Peppers- cored and sliced thin.
• Sliced Black Olives.
• Very Thinly Sliced Ham or Canadian Bacon.
• Put any or all of these on your pie and then top with the Parmesan and the olive oil.
• Bake the pie in 475º oven until the top is golden and gooey and the crust a light golden brown.
• This should take about 35-40 minutes.

TRUE CHICAGO-STYLE DEEP-DISH PIZZA

Steps:

• Mix sugar, yeast and 11 ounces room temperature water (about 80 degrees) in a bowl and let bloom for 15 minutes. Combine flour, salt and cream of tartar in the bowl of a stand mixer. Once yeast has bloomed, add to dry ingredients along with corn oil. Gently combine with a rubber spatula until a rough ball is formed.
• Knead on low speed with the dough hook for 90 seconds. Transfer to a lightly oiled bowl and proof until doubled in size, about 6 hours. Punch down and let dough settle for 15 more minutes.
• Position an oven rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 450 degrees F.
• Coat bottom and sides of a 12-inch cake pan or traditional Chicago style pizza pan with melted butter. Using your hands, spread out about three-quarters of the dough across the bottom and up the sides of the pan (save the remainder for another use). Cover entire bottom in mozzarella, all the way up to the edge. Cover half with a thin, even layer of raw sausage. Cover the other half with the pepperoni. Top with a couple handfuls of crushed tomatoes. Spread out with hands to the edge. Sprinkle top evenly with grated Parm.
• Bake, rotating halfway through, until golden around the edge, about 25 minutes. Let rest for about 5 minutes, then either gently lift pizza out of pan or just cut your slice out of the pan like a pie!