Deep Dish Pizza

Cooking for Kids

Here is a Chicago-style deep pan pizza recipe I found on the epicurious web site. The pan in which it is baked gives the pizza its characteristically high edge which provides ample space for large amounts of cheese and a chunky tomato sauce. Don’t forget to add any pizza toppings the children like.

You Will Need:

Dough (or use two balls of premade dough)
1 envelope active dry yeast
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp salt
2 1/2 tbsp olive oil

Pizza:

1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 1/2 cups (6 oz) part-skim mozzarella, shredded
1 cup tomato sauce
1 tbsp dried oregano
1 tbsp dried basil
3 tbsp grated Parmesan
2 tbsp fresh parsley (or basil), chopped (optional)
Toppings

What to Do:

For Dough:

In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in 1 cup warm water. In a separate bowl, combine flour and salt. Add yeast mixture and oil. Mix thoroughly with a wooden spoon until dough forms a ball. Place dough on a well-floured board and knead until smooth, about 10 minutes. Dust a large bowl lightly with flour, place dough in it and cover with plastic wrap. Let dough rise until doubled in size, about 1 hour. Punch it down and, with a rolling pin, roll out dough until 1 inch thick. Place dough in a nonstick deep-dish pizza pan or 9″ square casserole dish, pushing the dough up and slightly over sides.

For Pizza:

Preheat oven to 400°F. In a small skillet, sauté onions and peppers in oil. Set aside. In a nonstick skillet, panfry turkey sausage until brown. Mix with onions and peppers. Distribute cheese over dough. Top with veggies and meat, then spread sauce over pie. Sprinkle on oregano, basil, hot pepper flakes to taste, and Parmesan. Bake 25 to 30 minutes until golden brown. Remove and immediately sprinkle on fresh parsley, if desired. Cut and serve.

References:
Recipe from epicurious
Photo by Stephanie Felzenberg