Deep dish pizza

Tonight I thought – I need some comfort food! After all – this is Chicago and it is mid-February! It’s cold outside., but what else is new? Everyone that lives here has had about enough of winter by now. That calls for a little comfort food, and I can’t think of anything better than a deep dish pizza! I took my Mom’s homemade pizza dough recipe (which makes 2 thin crust pizzas), and turned it into 1 thicker crust deep dish style pizza! I like to get a “crispy crust” with this, so tried it in my cast iron skillet in the oven. If you don’t have one of these, you need to get one! They are great for many different dishes, and last just about forever. I used a good “jar sauce” that I keep in my pantry. It’s fast and easy. I added LOTS of mozzarella cheese of course – to make it truly “deep dish”. I thought italian sausage, red peppers, onions, and mushrooms sounded heavenly. So enjoy my tutorial and pics, and try it yourself!!

Set your oven to 375 degrees.

Add in a small bowl:

1 1/4 c warm water
1 pkg active dry yeast (rapid rise)
pinch of salt
2 Tbsp olive oil

Let yeast “bloom” for about 5 min.

Then pour into the bowl of a stand mixer with a dough hook.

Add: 3 c flour.

Mix on medium for about 5 min.

Place in a bowl covered with a towel and let rise for 1 hour. Punch down once during that time.

Prepare a cast iron skillet with 1 T olive oil, and spread over surface and up sides. Place dough in skillet, and spread out with your fingers, up the sides, forming a crust.

Saute your desired veggies in 1-2 Tbsp olive oil, salt, pepper. I used red peppers, onions, and mushrooms.

Brown 2-3 italian sausage links, with casings removed. Remove to a plate, leaving the drippings behind. This will help remove some of the liquid in both the meat, and the veggies. This can cause a “soggy” crust.