Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Chicago Style Deep Dish Veggie Meatball Pizza


This is another typical Chicago-style pizza. It has a deep dish crust and for the topping I used my favorite veggie meatballs. The recipe is from The Great Chicago-Style Pizza Book by Pasquale Bruno, Jr.


Deep-Dish Pizza
1 1/2 packages active dry yeast
1/2 cup warm water
1 tablespoon sugar
3 1/2 cups unbleached flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup warm water
1 28-ounce can of Italian style tomatoes--crushed by hand (or other pizza sauce)
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon oregano
salt to taste
10 ounces mozzarella cheese, sliced thin
1/4 cup grated Parmesan
olive oil

1. Dissolve the yeast in 1/2 cup warm water. Add the sugar and stir well. Set aside. In a large mixing bowl, combine 3 1/2 cups of flour, salt, and cornmeal. Make a well in the center of the flour. Add the yeast mixture, the vegetable oil, and 1/2 cup water. Stir and mix thoroughly until the dough cleans the sides of the bowl and a rough mass is formed.

2. Turn the dough out of the bowl onto a well-floured work surface. Knead and pound the dough (dust with flour if the dough sticks to your hands) for 5-6 minutes until it is smooth and soft. Dust the dough and a large mixing bowl lightly with flour. Place the dough in the bowl and cover the bowl with plastic wrap and a kitchen towel. Let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, about 1 1/2 hours.

3. After the dough has doubled in bulk, turn it out of the bowl and knead it for about 2 minutes. Oil the bottom and sides of a 14-inch deep dish pizza pan. Spread the dough in the pan with your fingers and palm. (it will spread more easily if you let it rest in the pan for about 10 minutes.) Work the dough until it covers the bottom of the pan. Pull the edges of the dough up to form a lip or a pronounced border all around the pan. Preheat the oven to 475F. Prick the dough bottom with a fork at 1/2-inch intervals and parbake the crust for exactly 4 minutes in the preheated oven. Brush the crust lightly with olive oil.

4. In a bowl, combine the tomatoes, basil, oregano, and salt. Set aside.

5. Lay the slices of mozzarella evenly over the crust (not to the border). Spoon the tomatoes over the cheese. Sprinkle with the Parmesan. Add any toppings of your choice. Drizzle about 1 tablespoon olive oil on top. Bake the pizza in a preheated 475 F oven on the bottom rack for 5 minutes. Move the pizza to an oven rack two slots above the bottom rack and bake an additional 30 minutes, until the crust is lightly browned.


Enjoy!

The recipe for the veggie meatballs is here (I leave off the sweet and sour sauce):
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Vegetarian-Sweet-and-Sour-Meatballs/Detail.aspx


6 comments:

  1. mmmmm - I remember your last deep dish pizza. I still haven't made it yet, but I am really looking forward to it!

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  2. Oh my, this pizza looks amazing, and I could totally do this! I might cheat by buying the meatballs, but this is a great idea!

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  3. you rock Michele. Its 10 pm...I never eat past 7 but seriously...my stomach is growling looking at these photos---yum yum yum!

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  4. That looks just delicious! I haven't made pizza with cheese on the bottom, but it sounds good.

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  5. Thanks for all the sweet comments!

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  6. Your pizza looks absolutely delish!

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