Deep Dish Pizza

An experiment today. I am making a laminated pizza dough for a deep dish pizza. I have mushrooms and fresh spinach left over in the fridge and it is a meatless day so  time to make a pizza. Firstly though, for Ben, we made him some smoked Gouda Mac and Cheese.  Ben cooked the sauce and there's plenty left for seconds in the days ahead.

hot out of the oven

lots of oozing cheese and fresh veggies

Ok...that was great! Chicago style deep dish stuffed with fresh mushrooms and spinach on a bed of mozarella and topped with a freshly made sauce. All very easy but I do need to buy a better pan. This is killing my good Wilton cake pans. Time to visit Sur La Table. The crust was perfect, tender,  flakey and browned, crisp edges.

So how do you do it?

The crust:

3 c flour (all purpose)
1/2 c cornmeal
2 t yeast
1 1/2 t salt
2 t sugar
2 T melted butter
1 1/2 c water  room temp

I used the Kitchen Aid and a dough hook, mixing the dry ingredients first then adding the water and butter. Pull it into a soft dough and let the mixer knead it for 5 minutes or so. It will be soft. Olive oil the bowl and place the dough in to rise till double. (about an hour)

Once risen, roll it out to a 15 x 12 rectangle and spread 3 more tablespoons of soft butter. Roll up tightly, flatten the roll into a 4 inch wide 18 inch long shape. Cut in half. Take each half and fold in thirds, pinch edges closed, form into a rough ball then place in oiled pan covered to the fridge till double. (about 40 minutes)

When ready, roll the dough ball into a 13 inch circle. Place a tbl of olive oil in a 9 inch cake pan. Lay the rolled dough and press into the corners and 1 inch up the side.  Fill with 2 c of shredded mozzarella, fresh spinach, fresh sliced mushrooms and top with sauce. Bake 450 for 30 mins. Yum.

The sauce:

2 tbl butter
1/4 cup grated onion
2 garlic cloves thru a press
2 cans of Fire Roasted tomatoes (14 oz each)
1 t sugar
1 t salt
1/2 t oregano
1 t basil
1 T olive oil
pepper to taste

Cook the onion in the butter for a few minutes, add the garlic then tomatoes. Add the spices and sugar, oil. Allow to cook for 10 - 15 mins. Sauce is ready.