Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Serving Up {Pizza}: Deep Dish Pizza


I like the idea of having a "pizza night" every week - yummy homemade dough, toppings for everyone to create their own masterpiece and knowing that everyone leaves the family table satisfied and happy.  In search of that "perfect" homemade pizza I have tried EVERY dough recipe that I come across but most leave me still searching.  Recently however, I discovered that it wasn't the dough recipe that was keeping my weekly pizza night from becoming a reality - it was my method!  And now that I have corrected that, we are proudly eating pizza ALL THE TIME!!!   I am quickly becoming the awesome mom I have always known I could be if I only served pizza more.

My pizza epiphany came when I was browsing pinterest and saw a pin for "pizza hut deep dish pizza".  Due to the fact that I was still in the "try every recipe I come across" I printed off the recipe and made the knockoff.  The verdict from my family was that the recipe had the "deep dish" method down, but even my kids complained that they thought the dough itself was bland.  That is probably because our favorite homemade dough is very flavorful and delicious - my reason for not making it more frequently is that I truly don't love rolling it out.  Why this method seems "easier" to me, I'm not sure.  A couple of days later I tried making my dough recipe but cooking it in the deep dish method and my family gave me a "keep the recipe" rating, which is the equivalent of 5 stars!

The recipe for the sauce is from the pizza hut recipe - I had my own homemade sauce recipe, but I just can't get over the five ingredient version so the sauce recipe listed has become my "go to" sauce as we become regular pizza makers at our house.



DEEP DISH PIZZA     
(printable version)

1 1/2 cup warm water
1 packet yeast
1 Tbs. honey
1 Tbs. oil
1-2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tsp. basil
1 tsp. oregano
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 Tbs. dough enhancer (optional)
3 1/2 - 4 cups flour


Turn oven to 150 degrees.  Once temperature is reached, turn off the oven.


Prepare three 9" cake pans by oiling each with 2 Tbs. oil (I use 1 Tbs. melted butter and 1 Tbs. olive oil).  Set aside.

Combine water, yeast and honey in a large mixing bowl and allow to sit for 3-5 minutes, until the yeast foams.   Add oil, garlic, basil, oregano, salt, dough enhancer and 2 cups flour.  Mix well and add remaining flour 1/2 cup at a time until the mixture pulls away from the sides of the bowl.  Continue to mix on "knead" setting for an additional 5 minutes.

Turn out the dough onto a floured surface and divide into three equal balls.  Stretch dough or use a rolling pin to create a 9-inch circle from each dough ball.  Place dough into oiled cake pan.  Cover the cake pan with a large plate and place it in the warmed oven (make sure you have turned the oven OFF!).  Allow to rise 30-60 minutes.

While the dough rises, prepare the sauce:
1 can (8-ounce) tomato sauce
1 tsp. dry oregano
1/2 tsp. dry basil
1/2 tsp. marjoram
1/2 tsp. garlic salt
Combine in a bowl and allow to sit for an hour.

Once dough has raised, remove from oven.  Preheat oven to 475 degrees.
For each pizza, spread 1/3 of the sauce, sprinkle with freshly shredded mozzerella cheese, add any additional toppings, end with additional shredded mozzerella.
Bake at 475 degrees for 10-12 minutes, until cheese is completely melted and bubbly.

No comments:

Post a Comment