Recipe: Deep Dish Pizza - Chicago Style

DEEP DISH PIZZA CHICAGO-STYLE

28 oz. pizza dough ball
2 1/2 to 3 cups marinara, pizza or spaghetti sauce, divided
8 (2.5 oz) Italian, onion or herbed meatballs, browned
1 lb sweet Italian sausage, cut into 8 links, browned
8 slices Genoa salami
8 slices prosciutto or capacola
8 slices bacon, cooked
8 slices pepperoni, large
1 medium red or yellow onion, sliced into 1/4-inch rings
1 to 1 1/2 cups white mushrooms, sliced or quartered (saute optional)
1 cup colossal black olives, whole or halved
1 1/2 to 2 tbsp minced fresh garlic
1 tbsp Italian seasonings: oregano, basil, sage, savory, marjoram, thyme, rosemary
2 cups grated mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup parmesan cheese, fine freshly grated

Preheat oven to 300-325 degrees F. Place oven rack in middle of oven.

FORM THE DOUGH:
Roll out a 28 oz. ball of pizza dough into an 18-inch round and 3/8-inch thick circle. Form into a deep-dish pizza pan, allowing the edges of the dough circle to droop over the top cutting edge of the baking pan. (Important: Fill the dough shell with the ingredients before trimming the crust edge so that the dough does not slip down into the vertical pan wall and become uneven!)

ASSEMBLING THE DEEP-DISH PIZZA:
Pour half of the sauce into the dough shell and spread evenly over the bottom.

Arrange the meats uniformly around the bottom of the pan. Lace the vegetables over the meats. Sprinkle over with garlic and seasonings.

Layer the Mozzarella cheese evenly over the filling. Top by dribbling the remaining sauce over the cheese layer, then sprinkle with the Parmesan.

Now, trim away the excess dough drooping from the pan edge, leaving a uniform crust edge.

BAKING AND SERVING:
Bake pizza in a preheated oven at 300-325 degrees F on the middle rack until mixture bubbles and dough crust is medium brown, (45 to 55 minutes). When done, let cool to set up a little while then slip from pan onto a large cutting board.

The pizza can be cut into slices or served whole in the pan as is often done.

Serves 4-8 hungry meat-lovers