Deep Dish Pizza

Discalimer: I've never been to Chicago. That being said, the deep dish pizza that I made from the America's Test Kitchen Recipe Magazine (published sometime before Christmas and still on shelves) has got to be the best pizza ever. Homemade sauce, fresh mozzarella, and homemade dough with cornmeal- yum! I did change the recipe a bit on accident, but they did a pretty amazing job on this one. I'll be trying the so called Maryland crab cakes tonight to verify that they really know their stuff, but for now- check out this pizza!



Recipe
Deep Dish Pizza (from America's Test Kitchen)

Dough:
1 5/8c unbleached all-purpose flour
1/4c yellow cornmeal
3/4t salt
1/4t sugar
1 1/8t instant or rapid-rise yeast
5/8c water, room temperature
1 1/2T butter, melted + 2 tablespoons, softened

Sauce:
2T butter
1/4c grated onion
1/4t oregano
1/2t salt
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 (15oz) can crushed tomatoes
2t sugar

Toppings:
ground black pepper
1/2lb fresh mozzarella cheese, shredded
1/4c grated Parmesan cheese

Dough:
Mix flour, cornmeal, salt, sugar, and yeast in bowl of stand mixer fitted with dough hook on low speed until incorporated, about 1 minute. Add water and melted butter and mix on low speed until fully combined, 1 to 2 minutes, scraping sides and bottom of bowl occasionally. Increase speed to medium and knead until dough is glossy and smooth and pulls away from sides of bowl, 4 to 5 minutes.
2. Using fingers, coat large bowl with 1 teaspoon olive oil, rubbing excess oil from fingers onto blade of rubber spatula. Using oiled spatula, transfer dough to bowl, turning once to oil top; cover tightly with plastic wrap. Let rise at room temperature until nearly doubled in volume, 45 to 60 minutes.

Sauce:
While dough rises, heat butter in medium saucepan over medium heat until melted. Add onion, oregano, and salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until liquid has evaporated and onion is golden brown, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in tomatoes and sugar, increase heat to high, and bring to simmer. Lower heat to medium-low and simmer until reduced to 1 1/4 cups, 25 to 30 minutes. Turn off heat and season with salt and pepper.

Dough:
Adjust oven rack to lower position and preheat oven to 425F. Using rubber spatula, turn dough out onto dry work surface and roll into a rec-tangle. Using offset spatula, spread softened butter over surface of dough, leaving 1/2-inch border along edges. Starting at short end, roll dough into tight cylinder. With seam side down, flatten cylinder into another rectangle. Fold into thirds like business letter, pinch seams together to form ball. Return ball to oiled bowl, cover tightly with plastic wrap, and let rise in refrigerator until nearly doubled in volume, 40 to 50 minutes.

Assembly:
Coat 9-inch round cake pan with 2 tablespoons olive oil. Transfer dough ball to dry work surface and roll out into 13-inch disk about 1/4 inch thick. Transfer dough to pan. Lightly press dough into pan, working into corners and 1 inch up sides. If dough resists stretching, let it relax 5 minutes before trying again. Sprinkle 2 cups mozzarella evenly over surface of dough. Spread tomato sauce over cheese and sprinkle Parmesan over sauce. Bake until crust is golden brown, 20 to 30 minutes. Remove pizza from oven and let rest 10 minutes before slicing and serving.

Enjoy!