While growing up my mother would bake bread every two weeks or so. Bread day was an all day thing for her so dinner needed to be part of the bread making routine. Therefore, in our house bread day was also the day for home made pizza.
The pizza she made was delicious but always was a very Sicilian like pizza. She always made it in a full sheet pan and used the best of Italian meats and cheese. So when I learned that there were other kinds of pizza I tended to not like them as much. To this day I still think nothing is better then home made pizza, but I now include many other kinds of pizza in my home made pizza repertoire.
Here is my deep dish pizza copied from a local Bay Area high end pizza shop. This pizza has a yummy butter cornmeal crust that adds a very nutty full taste to it that I think makes it the best way to eat deep dish.
Ingredients
- 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
- 3 tablespoons yellow cornmeal
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 teaspoons instant yeast
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 1/2 cup warm water (110-115 degrees F)
Instructions
Soften butter.
Add the corn meal to the butter and heat for 30 seconds.
Add the flour, oil, and salt to the bowl of a mixer and make sure to stir well to break up the lumps.
add the cornmeal butter mix.
Add the yeast and mix in.
Once every thing is well mixed, it should have the consistency of peas, add the warm water.
Knead the dough for about 8 minutes to get a smooth ball of dough.
Place the doe in a oiled bowl and cover.
Let rest for an hour or until twice the size.
Put the dough in to a deep sided pan and press to fill the bottom and up the sides of the pan.
Cover the bottom of the pan with your choice of cheeses and or sauce.
Bake in a 400 degree oven for 10 to 15 minutes, or until the dough starts to darken and get a little harder. Note don't over cook but make sure you can't leave a finger print.
Top with any other toppings you would like and make sure that you put the toppings on in a way that will assure every one eating gets some of each topping on there slice.
I like to put cheese in between each topping and some on top of the last topping. You can also add more sauce on the top and then bake.
Smaller toppings like olives, green onions should be on the top of every thing else just under the last bit of cheese
Bake for another 15 to 20 minutes until golden brown and crisp on the edges.