Homemade Deep Dish Pizza recipe

Homemade Deep Dish Pizza

A spectacular one-dish meal! Serve this Italian-inspired specialty with a tossed salad and beverage. Add your favorite toppings.

Yield: One 14-inch deep dish pizza

Ingredients

For the dough:

3¼ cup all-purpose flour
1 package (2¼ tsp, ¼oz, 7g) RED STAR Active Dry Yeast
1½ tsp salt
1¼ cup warm tap water
3 Tbsp oil

For the pizza sauce:

8-ounce can tomato sauce
6-ounce can tomato paste
2 tsp sugar
1½ tsp dried oregano (or 1 Tbsp fresh, chopped)
1 tsp parsley flakes (or 2 tsp fresh, chopped)
¾ tsp basil (or 1½ tsp fresh, chopped)
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp garlic powder
⅛ tsp crushed red pepper

For the toppings:

1 pound pork sausage
1 cup sliced mushrooms
⅓ cup diced green pepper
¼ cup chopped onion
2 cups (8 ounces) shredded Mozzarella cheese

Instructions

Prepare sauce (*see note below): Combine pizza sauce ingredients and simmer 10 to 15 minutes.
Prepare toppings: In a large frying pan, lightly brown sausage; drain. Prepare other ingredients.
In large mixer bowl, combine 1½ cups flour, yeast and salt; mix well. Add warm water and oil to flour mixture. Mix with wooden spoon or dough whisk until almost smooth. Gradually stir in enough remaining flour to make a soft dough. Knead on floured surface 3 to 4 minutes until dough is smooth and elastic. Cover dough; let rest 15 minutes.
Prepare Pizza: On a lightly floured surface, roll dough to a 16-inch circle. Place in an oiled 14-inch round deep-dish pizza pan, pushing dough halfway up sides of pan. (**see note below) Cover; let rise in warm place until puffy, about 15 minutes.
Spread pizza sauce over dough. Sprinkle sausage over sauce; arrange mushrooms, green pepper and onion over sausage. Sprinkle cheese on top. Bake at 425°F for 20 to 25 minutes until edge is crisp and golden brown and cheese is melted.
*You can substitute Instant (fast-rising) yeast in place of Active Dry Yeast. When using Instant Yeast, expect your dough to rise faster. Always let your dough rise until ripe. Traditional methods: use equal amounts; Bread Machine: use ½ tsp Instant Yeast OR ¾ tsp Active Dry Yeast per cup of flour in your recipe. Visit our Lessons in Yeast & Baking for more information.
Recipe featured at Fake Ginger.

Notes

*You can also use 1⅔ cups prepared pizza sauce in place of homemade sauce.

**The pizza dough can also be rolled to a 15x11-inch rectangle and placed on a greased 13x9x2-inch baking pan.