Deep Dish Pizza

  Mondays are pizza days for Tom and I. We usually meet a friend for pizza every other Monday and the one we stay at home, we heat a frozen pizza. Not today. I decided last evening that I'd again make a recipe I have for "Thick Pizza Crust" and we'd have something special.

 I used to say I didn't like deep dish pizzas. "Too much dough". "Too much bread". But now I find I actually prefer them. They're higher calorie and I'm fat. That's probably the reason.

 I use a very simple dough recipe in a cookbook Tom bought me a few years ago:

Thick Pizza Crust

3/4 cup warm water
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon active dry yeast
2-1/2 cups flour

 That's it. That's the whole dough recipe. I have found the water called for is not enough and generally dampen the dough ball as I knead it. And I 'proof" the yeast in a small measuring cup with the warm water and sugar for about five minutes before pouring it into the salted flour.

I knead the dough for about five minutes, then place it into a greased bowl with plastic warp atop. I let it rise for about 45 minutes in a warm place. The oven works well for this if you only slightly heat it beforehand.

 Then I knock it down and knead it again for a couple of minutes. I then roll it into the final shape: as wide as my cookie sheet  and about as long.

 That goes on the cookie sheet (to which I've added some cornmeal to keep the dough from sticking) and I let it rise again ... though this time for only 15 minutes.

 When It's risen slightly again (no more than a puffiness) I poke holes all over it with a fork.

 This dough needs baking for about five minutes before toppings are added. The top of the dough will dry a bit but only very slightly brown in places. If it browns all over it's been baked too long.

 Take the dough out of the oven and let it cool a few minutes so you can work with it.

 Now's the time to add tomato sauce (I used marinara) and the toppings of your choice. I only added cut green olives to my half and Tom added mushrooms to his. I sprinkled pepper flakes on my half and then we added a thick layer of shredded mozzarella cheese to the entire top.

 I baked this for about 13 minutes at 500°. 

 The result is at the top of the page. The pizza dough rises some more and tastes like a high quality bread. I imagine a pizza of this sort would sell for $20 to $30. It takes some time but it's worth it.