We have a love for pizza, but this Deep Dish Pizza Recipe takes pizza to the next level. Tried and tested to come up with the best crispy crust, fantastic tomato sauce, and perfect toppings; you are going to love this recipe.
Do you love pizza and want more? Then try our Copycat Olive Garden Pizza Bowls, Pizza Monkey Bread, or our Panzerotti-Mini Pizza Calzones.
A deep dish pizza has the layers of cheese and tomato sauce reversed. First, on top of the crust, you layer on a thick layer of cheese, then sausage and other toppings, followed by tomato sauce, and lastly, a sprinkling of Parmesan cheese. If you have never tried one, you will be amazed at how delicious it is.
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Danish Dutch Whisk for Better Batter and Bread Dough Recipes
What are the Ingredients for Deep Dish Pizza?
Here is our regular pizza dough that stands up beautifully to use as a deep dish pizza dough. We make this regularly, so why mess with a good thing? Traditionally, you can make a more buttery crust if you like, but this is what we use. We call it Noland-Style Deep Dish Pizza, lol! We do add butter to the pan to get that buttery flavor.
Ingredients for Pizza Dough
“00” flour
Yeast (Instant or quick rising)
Sugar
Kosher salt
Extra virgin olive oil
Lukewarm water
Pizza Sauce
Fire roasted tomatoes
Extra virgin olive oil
Kosher salt
Dried oregano
Garlic, minced
Crushed red pepper flakes (or to taste)
Fresh ground pepper
One note I would like to make here is about the Parmesan cheese. I find it is best to grate your own, and that is done easily in a food processor to get that fine texture you see. Good quality ingredients are always key to making the best recipes; it really does make a difference.
Pizza Ingredients
Butter, divided
Sliced mozzarella cheese
Italian sausage (mild or spicy)
White or cremini mushrooms, sliced
Green pepper, diced
Salt and pepper, to taste
Grated parmesan cheese
How to Make a Deep Dish Pizza
Is this recipe daunting? Not really, when you break it down and have some forward thinking. We have made it countless times, and it is very doable, even with the long list of ingredients. The dough mixes quickly and then does its thing rising; the sauce is fast and easy and doesn’t need to be cooked and the toppings are not anything out of the ordinary.
To make the dough:
Add all the dry ingredients to a large bowl or 6-quart (6 liters) bucket with a lid. Add the olive oil and 1 1/2 cups of lukewarm water.
Stir using a wooden spoon or a Danish Dough whisk, making sure that you collect all the dry ingredients from the corners of the container. Your dough should be sticky and a little ragged. Add additional water a bit at a time if you find your dough too dry, but be careful not to add too much.
Once mixed, cover your bowl loosely with plastic wrap or place the lid on the bucket (DO NOT snap the lid tightly closed as the gasses from the yeast need to escape!)
Place in a warm spot and allow to rise for about 2 hours. The dough should more than double in size.
Lightly flour a flat surface with flour and scrape the dough gently out of the bowl or bucket on the counter.
Grease a small baking sheet with olive oil.
Cut the dough into 2 equal-sized pieces and form into balls.
Place the balls on an olive oil-coated baking sheet, drizzle with additional olive oil, and cover with plastic wrap.
Refrigerate the dough for at least an hour before rolling it out.
To make the sauce:
Place all the ingredients into a food processor.
Pulse the mixture until just combined; the tomatoes should still be slightly chunky.
Pour the tomato mixture into a fine strainer or sieve and allow most of the liquid to drain. Set aside.
To Make the Deep-Dish Pizza Filling
In a large skillet, melt 1 Tbsp of butter over medium heat. Add the sliced mushrooms and diced green peppers and sauté for 10 – 12 minutes. Once almost done, add a little salt and pepper to taste. The mushrooms should be slightly browned and should have released most of their moisture. Remove the mushrooms and peppers from the skillet and set aside.
Again, using the same skillet, remove the sausage from the casing if needed and brown over medium heat breaking the sausage up as it cooks. Set aside.
Position the oven rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 450 degrees F.
Coat the bottom and side of a 12-inch cast iron skillet or traditional Chicago-style pizza pan with the remaining Tbsp of melted butter.
Use 1 of the balls of dough (1/2 the dough) for the deep-dish pizza. (You can freeze the other ball to be used in the future.) *
To Build The Pizza
Sprinkle flour on a clean countertop. Roll out the dough so that it is large enough to cover the bottom and up the sides of the pan. Place the dough into the pan and crimp the top edge of the dough slightly.
Cover the bottom and up the side of the dough with the sliced mozzarella.
Next, add the cooked sausage on top of the mozzarella, making sure that it evenly covers the cheese.
Sprinkle the sautéed mushrooms and green peppers on top of the sausage.
Top the mushrooms with the pizza sauce, spreading the sauce over the pizza, making sure that it is right to the edge.
Sprinkle the grated parmesan cheese over the top of the sauce.
Bake in the preheated oven for 20 – 25 minutes, turning the pan 180 degrees once about 1/2 way through the cooking time. The crust should be golden brown around the edges.
Remove the pizza from the oven and allow to rest for 5 minutes before cutting into slices.
Enjoy!!
Recipe Pro Tips!
*Note: You can divide the remaining dough into two if you would like to make two 12″ pizzas.
Where did deep dish pizza originate?
Chicago is the home of the deep dish pizza, so you will also see it called Chicago Style Deep Dish Pizza. It has been reported that it was invented at Pizzeria Uno by its owner, Sewel, in Chicago in 1943.
Why is the sauce on top of deep dish pizza?
The sauce on the top of the deep dish pizza is different from a regular pizza where it is on the bottom. A deep dish pizza has to bake longer than a regular pizza, so the cheese layer protects the dough and lets it get crispy as opposed to soggy from the sauce. No cheese sliding off here, you get some with every bite.
What to Serve with Your Deep Dish Pizza?
This deep dish pizza is almost a meal in itself, but if you are feeding a family, you will want to have side dishes, and these are the ones we recommend.
Deep Dish Pizza Recipe
Video
Ingredients
Dough
- 4 cups “00” flour
- 1/2 Tbsp yeast Instant or quick rising
- 1/2 Tbsp sugar
- 1/2 Tbsp Kosher salt
- 1 1/2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 1/2 – 2 cups lukewarm water
Pizza Sauce
- 1 – 14 oz can fire roasted tomatoes
- 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tsp Kosher salt
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes or to taste
- 1/4 tsp fresh ground pepper
Pizza Ingredients
- 2 Tbsp butter divided
- 12 oz sliced mozzarella cheese
- I lb. Italian sausage mild or spicy
- 12 oz white or cremini mushrooms sliced
- 1 green pepper diced
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 2/3 cup grated parmesan cheese
Instructions
To make the dough
- Add all the dry ingredients to a large bowl or 6-quart (6 liters) bucket with a lid. Add the olive oil and 1 1/2 cups of lukewarm water.
- Stir using a wooden spoon or a Danish Dough whisk, making sure that you collect all the dry ingredients from the corners of the container. Your dough should be sticky and a little ragged. Add additional water a bit at a time if you find your dough too dry, but be careful not to add too much.
- Once mixed, cover your bowl loosely with plastic wrap or place the lid on the bucket (DO NOT snap the lid tightly closed as the gasses from the yeast need to escape!)
- Place in a warm spot and allow to rise for about 2 hours. The dough should more than double in size.
- Lightly flour a flat surface with flour and scrape the dough gently out of the bowl or bucket on the counter.
- Grease a small baking sheet with olive oil.
- Cut the dough into 2 equal-sized pieces and form into balls.
- Place the balls on an olive oil-coated baking sheet, drizzle with additional olive oil, and cover with plastic wrap.
- Refrigerate the dough for at least an hour before rolling it out.
To make the sauce
- Place all the ingredients into a food processor.
- Pulse the mixture until just combined; the tomatoes should still be slightly chunky.
- Pour the tomato mixture into a fine strainer or sieve and allow most of the liquid to drain. Set aside.
To Make the Deep-Dish Pizza
- In a large skillet, melt 1 Tbsp of butter over medium heat. Add the sliced mushrooms and diced green peppers and sauté for 10 – 12 minutes.
- Once almost done, add a little salt and pepper to taste. The mushrooms should be slightly browned and should have released most of their moisture. Remove the mushrooms and peppers from the skillet and set aside.
- Again, using the same skillet, remove the sausage from the casing if needed and brown over medium heat breaking the sausage up as it cooks. Set aside.
- Position the oven rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 450 degrees F.
- Coat the bottom and side of a 12-inch cast iron skillet or traditional Chicago-style pizza pan with the remaining Tbsp of melted butter.
- Use 1 of the balls of dough (1/2 the dough) for the deep-dish pizza. (You can freeze the other ball to be used in the future.) *
To Build The Pizza
- Sprinkle flour on a clean countertop. Roll out the dough so that it is large enough to cover the bottom and up the sides of the pan. Place the dough into the pan and crimp the top edge of the dough slightly.
- Cover the bottom and up the side of the dough with the sliced mozzarella.
- Next, add the cooked sausage on top of the mozzarella, making sure that it evenly covers the cheese.
- Sprinkle the sautéed mushrooms and green peppers on top of the sausage.
- Top the mushrooms with the pizza sauce, spreading the sauce over the pizza, making sure that it is right to the edge.
- Sprinkle the grated parmesan cheese over the top of the sauce.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 20 – 25 minutes, turning the pan 180 degrees once about 1/2 way through the cooking time. The crust should be golden brown around the edges.
- Remove the pizza from the oven and allow to rest for 5 minutes before cutting into slices.
- Enjoy!!
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