So here’s the tea on this deep dish pizza…for one there are a lot of steps to make this pizza and for two it takes a long time to get the dough to rise. But it is certainly worth the time that it takes to make it. Since this was my first time making pizza dough, I referenced another food blog that had very detail information around working with yeast. I went to Sally’s Baking Addiction and used her recipe for the dough and added my twist to her recipe for the sauce. I would go to her page if you need additional details on making the dough. I normally don't have success with working with yeast but this time...I was successful. I did need to add more warm water to my dough to get it to the consistency I was looking for. It was initially way too dry so adding a few tablespoons of warm water did the trick. There are two keys things that you want to make sure you do when making this pizza. The first thing is to make sure you are using warm water and not hot water. You also want to make sure you don't add piping jo hot butter in with the dough. My microwave gets really hot fast so I had to let my butter cool off for a few minutes before I added it into the bowl. I made this pizza on a Friday night and it was a fun dish to make with my seven year old. She enjoyed helping me roll out the dough and add the toppings. Ingredients to Make the Pizza Dough
3 and 1/4 cups of all-purpose flour
1/2 cup of yellow cornmeal
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1 Tablespoon of sugar
1 packet of active yeast
1 1/4 cup of slightly warm water *
1/2 cup of butter, (1/4 cup of melted butter for the dough and 1/4 cup of softened butter after the first rise*
Olive oil for coating
Spilling the Sweet Tea Note
*Have an extra 1/4 cup of water in case you need it* You want the dough to be moist and not dry. I needed some extra water when I made my dough but only add one tablespoon at a time.
For the crust: Combine the flour, cornmeal, salt, sugar, and yeast in the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment. Add the warm water (the water should feel like warm bath water) and 1/4 cup of melted butter (that isn’t too hot) On low speed, beat the dough ingredients until everything begins to be moistened. For another 4-5 minutes, continue to beat the dough on low until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl. * I needed to add a few more tablespoons of warm water to my dough because it was initially too dry.
Remove the dough from the bowl and form into a ball. Lightly grease a large mixing bowl with olive oil and place the dough inside, turning it around so that all sides of the dough are coated in the oil. Cover the bowl tightly with aluminum foil and allow to rise in a warm environment for 1-2 hours or until double in size.
**I placed my dough on my kitchen table which is near a heat vent. It took 1 1/2 hours for the dough to rise.
Once the dough is ready, lightly flour a large work surface. Remove dough from the bowl and punch down the dough to remove any air bubbles and roll the dough into a large 15×12 inch rectangle. Spread 1/4 cup of softened butter on top of the dough.
Gently roll the dough towards you and then cut the dough in half. Form the dough into two separate bowls and then place back in the oiled bowl and top with aluminum foil. Place in the fridge for another hour so the dough can rise again.
Ingredients to Make the Pizza Sauce
2 Tablespoons of butter
1 small onion, grated
1 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon of crushed red pepper flakes
5 garlic cloves, finely minced
1 28oz can of crushed tomatoes
1 14oz can of diced tomatoes, drained
1/4 teaspoon of sugar
1 tablespoon of fresh basil, chopped For the sauce, add grated onion and minced garlic and saute until softened. Season with salt and pepper and add crushed red pepper. Add crushed tomatoes, diced tomatoes and sugar and cook on low heat for an hour. Set aside to cook a bit before building the pizza.
Toppings
Fresh Mozzarella cheese
Ground Italian Sausage
Pepperoni
Parmesan Cheese
Making the pizza- *This recipe makes two pizzas but I only made one. I put the other ball of dough in the freezer for another time.*
After about an hour in the fridge, the dough balls should have risen and appear puffy. Roll out the dough on a lightly floured work surface, working it into a 12-inch circle. Place the dough in a springform pan or cast iron skillet. Press the dough to make sure it is fitting well inside the pan and add sliced fresh mozzarella cheese or shredded mozzarella cheese. Add your toppings of choice. I only used ground sausage and pepperoni. Add the homemade pizza sauce on top of the toppings. I didn’t want a lot of sauce so I added very little. *I had enough sauce to make another pizza so I froze it.* Sprinkle the top of the pizza with with grated parmesan cheese. Brush the top edges of the dough with a little olive oil and bake on 425 for 25 minutes. *If using fresh sliced cheese, bake for another few minutes to ensure the cheese is completely melted.
Remove from the oven and let stand for 10 mins before removing the springform pan. Slice and serve!