Annie,

Here’s my deep-dish pizza recipe. You realize when you ask ME for a recipe, you’ll get lots of details! 🙂

The pizza crust recipe I found online [I’ve made a couple changes to it]. The toppings are mine. It has morphed over the years, and we always say the most recent version is the best one yet – it has become tradition. This takes nearly 4 hours, start to finish, because of the dough.

Dough

Ingredients:
2 pkgs. active dry yeast
4 cups flour
1/2 cup warm water (120 degrees, based on yeast pkg instructions)
1 tsp. salt
1 cup warm water
Italian seasoning

In large bowl, combine yeast, 1/2 cup flour, and 1/2 cup warm water in a bowl and mix well. Cover and place in a warm, draft-free place.

Let rise for 30 minutes. (I use this time to prep toppings – see below.)

Stir down batter. Add 2 cups flour, 1 tsp salt, and 1 cup warm water and mix well. Gradually add enough of the remaining flour to form a soft dough. Turn down onto a lightly floured board, sprinkle generously with Italian seasonings, and knead for 10 minutes. Place dough in a greased bowl, turning to grease top.

Cover and let rise until double, about 1 hour. (More topping prep time.)

Punch down dough and roll to 16” round. Place in greased 14” round deep dish pizza pan and form a raised edge. (My notes: Pan should be greased with shortening, not olive oil spray! I learned that the hard way when I substituted for a guest, and the crust slid down the sides of the pan. I don’t roll the dough anymore, either. Just place in the pan and very gently flatten it around the pan, and press it up the sides. I like to make an indentation with my thumbs all around the bottom of the sides, to help prevent the dough from sliding down as it rises.)

Let dough rise in pan for 30 minutes.

Toppings

I prepare these during the first two dough risings:
Brown 1/2 lb. sausage.
Brown 1/2 lb. ground meat, seasoning it with black pepper, red pepper flakes, oregano, basil, and a little rosemary.
(The third meat I use is pepperoni.)
Slice green pepper, red onion, black olives, mushrooms.
Grate maybe 20 oz. mozzarella.
(I also use a little Parmesan.)
In a bowl, combine most of a 28-oz jar of spaghetti sauce with an 8-oz jar of tomato paste. Season with crushed garlic, lots of oregano, basil, and a little rosemary.

After the dough has risen 30 min. in the pan:
Remove top oven rack and preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Spray or brush dough gently with olive oil.

Then you start the layering! Here are my layers:
Set 1:
– Tomato mixture (spread a little onto bottom of dough)
– Half of the meat, half of the sausage, covered with a layer of pepperoni
– Layer of mozzarella (not very deep, or the pizza gets soggy)
Set 2:
– More dollops of the tomato sauce (spread it a little)
– Half of the green peppers, half of the mushrooms, half of the black olives, half of the red onion
– Layer of mozzarella
Set 3:
– More dollops of tomato sauce
– The remaining half of the sausage and meat, covered with a layer of pepperoni
– Mozzarella
Set 4:
– Tomato mixture
– The remaining half of the veggies
– Mozzarella
Top with a generous sprinkling of Parmesan.

Bake at 425 for 20-30 minutes until the crust and the mozzarella turn golden brown.

Hope you guys like it!