Deep Dish Pizza
Did you ever wonder about the “pie” in pizza pie? This dish takes all the wonder out of it. This Deep Dish Pizza delights with multiple layers of cheese, sausage, and tomatoes! Get out your knife and fork!
Ingredients
4 cups all-purpose flour
3 tbsp yellow cornmeal
1 3/4 tsp salt
2 3/4 tsp instant yeast
2 tbsp olive oil (plus extra for greasing the stone)
4 tbsp butter, melted
2 tbsp vegetable oil or salad oil
1 cup + 2 tbsp lukewarm water
Instructions
Set the Big Green Egg for indirect cooking at 425°F/232°C.
To make the crust, mix the dough ingredients and knead — by hand, mixer, or bread machine — to make a smooth crust. This will take about 7 minutes at medium-low speed in a stand mixer.
Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl or 8 cup measure (which makes it easy to track its rise), cover, and let rise till very puffy, about 60 minutes. While the dough is rising, ready your Deep Dish Pizza/Baking Stone. Grease it with non-stick vegetable oil spray; pour in 3 to 4 tablespoons olive oil, tilting it to cover the bottom of the pan, and partway up the sides.
Stretch the dough to make as large a circle as you can (you can do this on a lightly oiled Dough Rolling Mat or simply stretch the dough in your hands. Lay the dough in the pan, and stretch it towards the edges till it starts to shrink back. Cover, and let it rest for 15 minutes.
Stretch the dough to cover the bottom of the pan, and then gently push it up the sides of the pan. The olive oil may ooze over the edge of the crust; that’s OK. Let the crust rest for 15 minutes or so. Bake the crust for 10 minutes, until it sets and barely begins to brown. While it’s baking, prepare the filling.
Bake the pizza in the EGG for about 25 minutes, or until the filling is bubbly and the topping is golden brown. Remove it from the EGG and allow the pizza to cool for about 15 minutes (or longer, for less oozing) before cutting and serving.
Serves 12.
Filling Ingredients
12 oz (340 g) mozzarella cheese, sliced
16 oz (455 g) Italian sweet or hot sausage, cooked and sliced
28 oz (795 g) can plum tomatoes, lightly crushed, diced or chopped tomatoes
2 to 4 garlic cloves, peeled and minced, optional
1 tbsp (15 ml) sugar, optional
1 to 2 tsp (5 to 10 ml) Pizza Seasoning or mixed dried Italian herbs (oregano, basil, rosemary), to taste
1 cup (100 g) freshly grated Parmesan or Asiago cheese
2 tbsp (30 ml) olive oil, to drizzle on top
Filling Instructions
Drain the tomatoes thoroughly. Combine them with the pizza seasoning or herbs, and the garlic and sugar. Add salt to taste; you probably won’t need any additional salt if you’ve used the Pizza Seasoning. Cover the bottom of the crust with the sliced mozzarella, fanning it into the crust. Add the sausage, then the tomato mixture. Sprinkle with the grated Parmesan, and drizzle with the olive oil.
Recipe and photo courtesy of King Arthur Flour and from Big Green Egg.
