Deep Dish Pizza Recipes

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.

Steps:

• For the pizza sauce, melt the butter in a small saucepan and add the onion, salt, red pepper flakes, and oregano, and sauté until golden brown.
• Add the garlic, sugar, and crushed tomatoes, and simmer for roughly 20 minutes or until sauce thickens.
• For the dough, combine the active dry yeast, sugar, and warm water together and let sit for one minute.
• In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, cornmeal, and salt.
• Add the yeast mixture and butter into the dry ingredients and stir until dough forms.
• Bring dough to floured surface and knead until dough forms into a ball.
• Move dough to large bowl drizzled with olive oil. Coat dough in oil and cover. Let rest for 1 hour.
• Remove dough and bring onto floured surface.
• Cut dough in half and begin working dough out, ensuring that it is at least 2 inches (5 cm) wider than your deep dish pan.
• Double wrap the remaining dough with plastic wrap and place in a resealable freezer bag. Freeze for up to a month.
• Preheat your oven to 425°F (215°C).
• Bring your dough into your oiled and floured deep dish pan.
• Using your hands press dough into sides of your dish making it as even as possible.
• Lay slices of mozzarella across the dough, covering the entire bottom.
• Add pieces of uncased italian sausage on top of the mozzarella and top with tomato sauce.
• Bake for 20-25 minutes or until crust starts to lightly brown and the cheese is melted.
• Garnish with parmesan, cut and serve.
• Enjoy!

Steps:

• Combine the yeast, water and honey in a small bowl. Set aside until foamy, about 5 minutes.
• Combine the cornmeal, salt and 2 cups flour in a bowl. Add the water mixture and 1/4 cup olive oil. Using your hands, stir together to form a rough dough. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and knead the dough, adding more flour as needed, until it forms a slightly tacky but smooth dough that doesn't stick to your hands or the counter, 5 to 10 minutes. Place the dough in an olive oil-coated bowl, turning to coat the dough in the oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let stand in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
• Position an oven rack in the top third of the oven and another in the bottom third. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
• Grease a 9-inch springform pan with the remaining tablespoon olive oil. Wrap the bottom of the pan in aluminum foil and set aside.
• Gently place the dough in the pan and spread it out to the edges using your fingers. Work the dough about 2 inches up the side of the pan. Shingle the provolone on the bottom of the crust and part of the way up the sides. Spoon the marinara over the cheese and smooth with the back of a spoon. Bake for 30 minutes on the lower rack. Rotate the pizza and move it to the top rack and continue to bake until the crust is deep golden brown and the sauce is slightly darker, another 10 to 15 minutes. Sprinkle with the Parmesan and seasonings, if using, and allow the pizza to rest for 10 minutes before unmolding, slicing and serving.

Steps:

• For the pizza dough: Whisk together the lukewarm water, yeast and sugar in a small bowl. Let sit for 5 minutes, until the yeast begins to bubble and foam.
• Add the flour and kosher salt to a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook and mix until just combined. With the mixer off, add the yeast mixture. Turn the mixer back on and knead, gradually increasing the speed from low to medium, until the flour and yeast are combined and the dough looks shaggy. Turn the mixer off again and add the melted butter. Mix, slowly increasing the speed to medium, until the dough holds together and the butter is completely incorporated, about 30 seconds. With the mixer on the lowest speed, knead the dough for 3 minutes. If the dough moves too high up the hook and is no longer being kneaded, turn the mixer off and push the dough back down.
• Coat a large bowl with the olive oil. Remove the dough from the stand mixer, form into a ball and place in the greased bowl. (The dough will feel tacky when it comes out of the mixer but should come out in one piece. If necessary, knead additional flour into the dough, 1 tablespoon at a time, until the desired consistency is reached.) Cover with a towel and let rise in a warm place for 1 hour or until doubled in size.
• For the marinara sauce: Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a medium saucepot. Add the onions and saute until softened, 2 minutes. Add the garlic and cook an additional 30 seconds, until fragrant but not browned. Stir in the tomato paste, oregano, crushed red pepper and salt; cook for 30 seconds. Pour in the stewed tomatoes, breaking up any large pieces. Bring the sauce to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium low and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring often. Remove from the heat and stir in the butter. Adjust the seasoning with salt to taste. Let cool. (Makes 1 1/4 cups.)
• For the sausage pizza: Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
• Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. When hot, add the sweet Italian sausage and hot Italian sausage and cook until browned, breaking up the sausage into small pieces. Remove to a paper-towel-lined baking sheet to drain.
• Combine the mozzarella and Asiago in a bowl and reserve in the refrigerator.
• Place the proofed pizza dough on a lightly-floured work surface. Dust the top of the dough with flour and roll into a 14-inch round, about 1/4-inch thick. Roll the dough onto the rolling pin and transfer to a 10-inch nonstick springform pan. As evenly as possible, unroll the dough over the springform pan and guide the dough into the pan, pressing it evenly into the bottom and working it gently all the way into the edges. Next, lift the sides of the dough up and press against the sides of the pan, making sure the dough doesn't fold over itself at any point. The dough should come 2 inches up the sides of the pan.
• Add half of the cheese to the bottom of the crust, top with half of the sausage and then cover the sausage with the marinara sauce. Add the remaining cheese, followed by the rest of the sausage. Fold the top of the pizza dough over so that it sits evenly on top of the filling.
• Place the pizza on a baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes. Rotate, cover with foil, and bake an additional 20 minutes. Remove the pizza from the oven when the crust is a deep golden brown and the cheese is melted. Let rest for 15 minutes before removing the sides of the springform pan. Serve with torn basil scattered over the top.

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Heat a skillet over medium-high heat with 2 tablespoons olive oil. Cook the sausage rounds until they turn brown on each side, 8 to 10 minutes.
• Grease the inside of a 12-inch cast-iron skillet with the butter. Place the pizza dough in the center and spread evenly towards the bottom edge and 1 1/2 inches up the sides.
• The order of topping layers is very important to achieving a crisp bottom pizza crust. Begin with the sausage. Evenly lay the sausage on the dough, followed by the mozzarella and marinara. Sprinkle the garlic and oregano on top. Finish with the Parmesan and drizzle with the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil.
• Place the skillet pizza on the bottom rack of the oven and cook until the edge of the crust is golden brown and crusty, 30 to 35 minutes. Remove and let rest for 5 minutes before serving.

Steps:

• In a large bowl, combine wheat flour, 1 cup all-purpose flour, yeast, sugar and salt. Add water and oil; beat until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough. Press dough onto the bottom and up the sides of a greased 13x9-in. baking dish. , Top with pizza sauce. Place mozzarella slices over sauce. Sprinkle with shredded cheese, oregano and Italian seasoning. If desired, top with red onion and green pepper. Bake, uncovered, at 400° for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. If desired, top with fresh oregano leaves and crushed red pepper flakes.

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.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425°. In a large skillet, cook beef, pepper and onion over medium heat 8-10 minutes or until beef is no longer pink, breaking beef into crumbles; drain. Stir in pizza sauce and Canadian bacon; remove from heat., Prepare dough for pizza crust according to package directions. Press dough to fit bottom and 1 in. up sides of a greased 13x9-in. baking pan., Spoon meat sauce onto crust. Sprinkle with cheese; top with pepperoni. Bake, covered, 25 minutes. Uncover; bake 5-10 minutes longer or until crust and cheese are golden brown. Freeze option: Cool meat sauce before assembling pizza. Securely cover and freeze unbaked pizza. To use, bake frozen pizza, covered with foil, in a preheated 425° oven 25 minutes. Uncover; bake 15-20 minutes longer or until golden brown and heated through.

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.

Steps:

• Add yeast to a mixture of water and sugar and let stand until foamy, about 5-10 minutes.
• Add the rest of the ingredients and mix in stand mixer with paddle attachment for one minute, then knead with hook attachment for no more than two minutes. Dough will be a little sticky. If too sticky to handle, add a little more flour. If too dry, add a little water. Dough should be a little tacky but able to shape into a ball.
• Put dough in a buttered bowl, turn dough buttered side up, cover with plastic wrap or a clean towel and let rise at room temperature for 6 hours.
• Punch down, then cover and let gluten relax for 10-15 minutes.
• Either roll out or press into and up sides of deep dish pizza pan or even a cast iron skillet. If you are making a 10-inch pizza, fit the dough into the pan at the thickness you like and trim off any excess.
• Add cheese, toppings, and tomatoes (that you've flavored with garlic, basil, oregano, etc.).
• Bake at 450 degrees for 30 minutes, depending on your oven.
• You may want to prebake the crust, if you wish, for about 5-10 minutes.

Steps:

• On a lightly floured surface, roll dough into a 14x10-in. rectangle. Transfer to a greased 13x9-in. baking dish. Build up edges slightly. , Spread sauce over crust. Layer with remaining ingredients. , Bake at 400° until crust is golden brown and cheese is melted, 25-30 minutes.

Steps:

• In a measuring cup or small bowl, dissolve sugar and yeast in water.
• Combine flour, parmesan and salt in a large bowl and make a well in the center.
• Pour yeast mixture and oil in well and stir into dry ingredients until dough forms; let rise 5 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• Heat olive oil over medium heat, add hamburger, onions and garlic, season with chili powder and sauté until onions are tender and meat is browned, about 10 minutes.
• Grease a 9x12-inch cake pan, and press dough into pan.
• Pour 1/2 of sauce onto dough, layer 1/2 of all remaining ingredients, top with remaining sauce, then layer on all remaining ingredients (the cake pan will be full at this point).
• Bake at 350°F for 20-25 minutes until the cheese is lightly browned.

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!

Steps:

• Dissolve yeast and sugar in water in a bowl. Let stand until the yeast softens and begins to form a creamy foam, about 5 minutes.
• Mix 2 cups all-purpose flour, bread flour, corn oil, and salt together in a bowl; add yeast mixture and knead on a work surface using about 1/2 all-purpose flour until well mixed. Let dough rise in a warm area until doubled in size; about 2 hours.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Brush bottom and sides of two 13-by-9-inch metal baking pans with oil. On a lightly floured work surface, stretch each ball of dough into a 10-by-14-inch oval (if dough isn't holding its shape, let rest a few minutes).
• Transfer each oval to a prepared pan, pressing to fit into corners, and one inch up sides to form a rim. Dividing evenly, spread sauce over each oval of dough.
• Using 3 cups of cheese per pizza, spread three layers each of cheese and topping, ending with topping (layering with cheese helps to hold each pizza together). Season with salt and pepper. (If making ahead, cover and refrigerate, up to 1 day.)
• Bake pizzas side by side until cheese and crusts are golden brown, 30 to 40 minutes, rotating once (if refrigerated, add 10 minutes). Let rest in pans 10 minutes. To serve, use two wide spatulas to transfer pizzas to cutting boards.

Steps:

• Pour 1 cup plus 3 tablespoons warm (90-110 degree F) water into a bowl, then stir in the sugar and yeast.
• Let sit until the yeast begins to bubble, about 5 minutes.
• In an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix the flour, cornmeal, and salt on low to combine.
• Pour in the yeast mixture and the olive oil to combine while still mixing.
• Once the dough comes together, switch to the dough hook, and knead on med-high speed to make a smooth dough, about 2-3 minutes.
• Add a little more water or flour as needed to make a soft dough.
• Put the dough in an oiled bowl, cover, and let rise until doubled in size, from 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours.
• Preheat oven to 400°; punch down the dough, and press it into a 14 x 10 inch oiled baking pan or an oiled 12 inch cast iron skillet, gently pressing the dough up the sides to make a shell.
• Fill the shell with an even layer of provolone and mozzarella, then spread the sauce to cover the cheese completely.
• Top with the pepperoni, and sprinkle with the grated cheese and oregano.
• Cover with foil, and bake 45 minutes.
• Then uncover, and bake until the crust is deep golden brown and the pizza is bubbly, about 20 minutes.
• Let sit about 5-10 minutes before cutting into wedges and serving.

Steps:

• 24 Hours Prior to Baking: In a mixing bowl, add the water, sugar, yeast, flour, cornmeal, and salt.
• Mix on low speed for a few minutes until the dough comes together, then slowly add the oil. Continue to mix dough for 7 more minutes.
• The dough should be somewhat moist and smooth, but not sticky. Form the dough into a ball and place into a bowl twice the size of the ball. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and then put a dish towel over it and place in the refrigerator for 24hrs.
• Remove the bowl from the refrigerator about one hour prior to making the pizza. Set the bottom oven rack to its lowest position and preheat the oven to 450° F for at least 30 minutes prior to baking.
• After letting the dough rest for one hour, coat the bottom of a well seasoned 15" × 2" deep cast iron skillet with a light layer of canola/vegetable oil (do not use olive oil).
• Place the dough ball in the center of the pan and press it out until it covers the entire bottom. Then, using you fingers, work the dough up the sides of the pan about 1 1/2 inches.
• The top of the edges should be pinched up against the side of the pan. If the dough resists holding shape, cover with a towel and allow to rest for 15-20 minutes before trying again.
• Using sliced mozzarella (NOT fresh, only low-moisture), or a blend of sliced mozzarella and provolone, cover the bottom of the dough with cheese.
• Add your desired toppings (Italian sausage is very popular). If you are going to use pepperonis, it is recommended to chop them into 1/4's before layering them in the pizza.
• Top with 1 LARGE can of crushed tomatoes, no seasoning added. Use your hands if necessary to spread out the tomatoes. **Note that 6 IN 1 brand tomatoes are very fresh tasting, as are Bianco DiNapoli if you can find then at a store near you**.
• Finish topping with Italian herbs/seasonings (chopped fresh basil and dried oregano flakes are favorites) and finally with freshly grated parmesan cheese.
• Place the pan in the center of the bottom oven rack and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, turning once half way through, until the crust is golden brown.
• Remove the pizza from the oven and allow to cool for about 3 minutes.
• Remove the pizza from the baking pan and place on a cutting board or serving pan. Slice and serve.