Deep Dish Homemade Pizza

Pizza, in our home, can be a bare cupboard meal since I almost always have a can of tomato paste, flour, and some shredded cheese in the house. But the great thing about pizza is you can make it as fancy and delicious as you'd like. My husband spent a lot of time taking our basic recipe and tinkering with it to get a delicious deep dish pizza, much like what we enjoy at the restaurant Old Chicago.

 

My pizza crust recipe:

3 cups flour 
3 tsp yeast
1 cup very warm water
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt

- Preheat oven to 200.
- In a large bowl combine 1c flour and the yeast. Add the water and stir.
- Add the oil, sugar, salt and remaining flour, blending it until it forms a ball. (You may need to add more water, oil or flour depending on the texture and humidity in the air. It should be smooth and velvety, not sticky or dry.)
- Turn it out on a lightly floured surface and knead 8 - 10 times, form it into a ball.  
- Place the dough in a lightly oiled, oven safe bowl. Flip the dough over so the bottom is now on top, with a light film of oil. Cover with cling wrap.
- Turn off the oven and place the dough inside. Allow it to rise about 1 hour.



Assembling the Pizza:
Pour vegetable oil into the bottom of a cast iron skillet so that it forms a shallow pool. (The oil essentially fries the bottom, giving it a crispiness while the inside of the dough will still be soft.)
Dump the raised dough into your hand, gently letting the dough stretch itself into a circle.
Plop the dough into the skillet and stretch so it can reaches the sides of the pan. 

Put the sauce* on the dough, leaving a ring of dough about 1" thick along the outside.
Add whatever seasonings you'd like: pineapple, peppericinos, sausage (it can be raw as long as the clumps aren't too big), etc.
Cover with shredded cheese.
Bake for 12 minutes in an oven preheated to 500 degrees. 

Several inches of awesome.

*You can use a store bought or homemade sauce. My recipe is below.

My Homemade Sauce: 
minced garlic
olive oil
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can tomato paste
oregano
basil
sugar
parsley
salt
pepper


- Add 1 Tbsp olive oil to a heated pan.
- Add 2 Tbsp minced garlic and saute for ~1 minute.
- Add diced tomatoes, undrained, and the tomato paste. Fill the cans each with water and stir it in until the sauce is smooth. 
- Season to taste, approximately 2 tsp oregano, 1 tsp basil, 1 tsp sugar, 1/2 tsp parsley.
- Keep on a low simmer until sauce is desired thickness.

Homemade Casey's Breakfast Pizza

I married a man with a thing for Casey's Breakfast Pizza.  I hate to admit it, but the stuff actually is pretty good. 

Last weekend he decided that he would make his own breakfast pizza at home and it was a triumphant success. 

So, so, so good.

 Ingredients:

pizza crust (see recipe below)

1 small can Frito's cheese dip

1 lb sausage

6 eggs

2 C shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions:

- Preheat oven to 350

- Prepare crust.

- Brown sausage and drain fat.

- Scramble and cook eggs.

- Assemble pizza: Spread 1/2 the Frito cheese dip on the pizza crust.  Spread the cooked sausage and eggs on top of the cheese.  Cover with the shredded cheese.

- Bake for 10 minutes.

- Enjoy the awesome.

My pizza crust recipe:

3 cups flour (can use 1c whole wheat)
1 package fast-acting yeast
1 cup very warm water
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt

-In a large bowl combine 1c flour and the yeast. Add the water and stir.
-Add the oil, sugar, salt and remaining flour, blending it until it forms a ball. (You may need to add more water, oil or flour depending on the texture and humidity in the air. It should moist but not sticky.)
-Turn it out on a lightly floured surface and knead 8 - 10 times, form it into a ball. 
- Roll dough into disc and let rise in warm space.

Pizza Pasta Casserole

Simple.  Yummy.  Filling.  Everyone loved it.  It does not get better than that.

Here's my "I-slapped-this-together-for-dinner" recipe.

1/2 box rigatoni (or similar pasta), cooked to al dente
pepperoni slices
1 C shredded mozzarella
1/4 C shredded Parmesan cheese
red sauce (recipe below)

Red sauce
1 small can tomato paste
1 can diced tomatoes
1-2 Tbsp sugar
1 scant Tbsp basil
1 heaping Tbsp minced garlic
bit of pepper
1/2 tsp onion powder
1 1/2 tsp oregano
 Cook til thickened.

In deep casserole dish layer pasta, sauce, mozzarella, pepperoni, parm cheese.  Put in microwave for 3 mins for cheese to melt.

Eat awesome.

Beef, Mushroom & Onion Tart

This was a hit.

Travis said it smelled like something that would be served in a fancy restuarant.  It was easy to make, can easily be altered, was filling, and was liked by everyone in my family!

From Better Homes and Gardens Magazine March 2010.

Ingredients:

pizza crust, can be store bought or follow the recipe below

1lb ground round

1 8oz pkg sliced mushrooms (I used a can of mushrooms from my cupboard)

1/2 med red onion, cut in wedges

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

3 oz blue cheese, crumbled

fresh oregano, or pizza seasoning (optional)

my pizza crust recipe:

3 cups flour (can use 1c whole wheat)

1 package fast-acting yeast
1 cup very warm water
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt

-In a large bowl combine 1c flour and the yeast. Add the water and stir.
-Add the oil, sugar, salt and remaining flour, blending it until it forms a ball. (You may need to add more water, oil or flour depending on the texture and humidity in the air. It should moist but not sticky.)
-Turn it out on a lightly floured surface and knead 8 - 10 times, form it into a ball and let it rest -preferably near something warm to help it rise some.

tart recipe:
Heat oven to 425. 
Cook beed, onion, and mushroom over med heat until meat is browned and onion is tender.  Drain off fat; stir in s&p.
Prep baking sheet with parchment paper or grease (I just sprinkled on some corn meal.)  Lay out crust on sheet.
Fill curst with beef mix, keeping an 1-2" edge.  Fold edge up, pleating and pinching where needed.
Bake 15 mins or until crust is golden.  Top with blue cheese, oregano, and pizza seasoning.

my notes:
I baked the tart with mozzerella on half of it since Travis doesn't like blue cheese.  I also used fresh parsley and oregano.
This was a little on the dry side and we decided a dipping sauce is needed.  Horseradish sauce will be the first thing I try.