Description
Homemade Chicago-style Deep Dish Pizza made in a cast iron skillet!
Ingredients
- 1/2 lb. Spicy Italian Sausage
- 1 recipe of your favorite pizza dough
- 1/2 cup crushed tomatoes (or your favorite pizza sauce)
- 1.5 cups shredded mozzarella
- Fresh sliced basil, for garnish (optional)
Instructions
- Heat oven to 375 degrees F.
- Cook sausage in a large skillet over medium-high heat, using a wooden spoon to break it up into small pieces as it cooks. Drain away any excess fat and set aside.
- Press pizza dough into a 10-12" cast iron skillet (I like this one). Flatten dough against the bottom of the pan and press it all the way up the sides of the skillet, like so:
- Spread a thin layer of crushed tomatoes on the bottom of the pizza. Top with half of the mozzarella, then add the cooked sausage and top with the remaining mozzarella cheese.
- Cover the last layer of mozzarella with the remaining crushed tomatoes.
- Bake pizza at 375 for 35-45 minutes or until crust is golden brown and cheese is melted. Garnish with fresh basil (optional), slice, and serve immediately.
Notes
If you don’t have a large cast iron skillet, use a deep pan or pot with very thick sides. The pizza has to bake for a long time so you want the heat to distribute very evenly. A ceramic casserole dish, cake pan, or dutch oven would also do the trick. A too-thin pan will burn the crust – you want it soft and chewy!
Use your favorite pizza sauce or tomato sauce here if you like. I love the simplicity of crushed tomatoes or homemade tomato sauce. Whatever you use, just make sure that it's THICK - runny tomato sauce will result in a soggy pizza crust. If you're using homemade tomato sauce, you may want to simmer it on the stove for a bit before adding it to your pizza to give the excess water a chance to cook off.
Use whatever pizza toppings you like here - peppers, onions, black olives, pepperoni, spinach, chicken, you name it!
If your crust starts to get too brown in the oven, cover your pizza with foil or an oven-safe lid for the remainder of the cooking time.