| Prep | Cook | Total |
| Conventional | 120 Mins | 45 Mins | 165 Mins |
| TurboChef | 120 Mins |
6.5 Mins
|
126.5 Mins
|
- Pizza Dough
- 2 ¾ c. of bread flour
- 1 ½ tsp. of salt
- 1 tbsp. of olive oil
- 1 tbsp. of sugar
- 3 tsp. of yeast
- 1 c. of water, 100 to 110 degrees
-
- Toppings for one 12" pizza
- 1 tsp. of corn meal
- One recipe of pizza dough
- 12 oz. of shredded whole milk mozzarella
- ¾ tsp. of spices: fresh ground fennel seed
- 1 ½ tsp. of oregano leaves, dried
- ½ tsp. of granulated garlic
- 2 oz. of fresh mushrooms, optional
- 14 oz. can of diced, canned tomatos, drained
- ½ c. of Parmesano Reggiano
This is a family recipe that is rumored to have come directly from the founding father of Chicago deep dish pizza. I’m not sure if that is true, but one thing that is true is this pizza is always a crowd pleaser. Make multiple pizzas for a large crowd. You can double up on the dough recipe and it doesn’t take much more time. The toppings are the easy part.
To make the pizza dough, dissolve yeast in warm (100-110 degrees F) water and add sugar and stir to dissolve. Note; this is a very important step and you should use a thermometer to measure the temperature of the water. Yeast will die at 113 degrees F and the dough will fail if the water temperature is too hot. Measure out flour, sift the flour and then place it in a food processor. Add salt and pulse to mix flour and salt. Next, add oil to flour mixture and pulse to mix oil into flour. Once mixed, add the bubbling yeast mix to flour slowly. Using the pulse function on the food processor blend the ingredients together until they begin to form a ball, the dough will be sticky. Remove the dough mixture from the food processor bowl and place on a floured surface and gently knead the dough together into a ball. (Add flour if dough is too sticky). Knead the dough ball for approximately 5 minutes or until it is smooth and elastic, then place the dough ball into an oiled bowl. Cover the bowl with a towel. Set the lower oven to 100 degrees F with a pan of water under the lowest rack to create a heated proof box (95-105 degrees F). Proof until the dough doubles in size, about 30 minutes. Remove from the proof box and punch the dough down and proof again until it doubles in size, about 20-30 minutes.
Turn the TurboChef oven on and under ‘Bake’ on the cook wheel, select ’COOKBOOK” and then select ‘Chicago Deep Dish Pizza’. Push ‘start’ this will begin the preheat cycle.
Spray pizza pan with olive oil flavored non-stick spray or spread very lightly with olive oil and sprinkle the pan lightly with corn meal with heavier concentration in the center of the pan.
Remove the proofed dough, place on a floured board, and roll out with a rolling pin until it is about 13-14” in diameter. Gently transfer dough to the pizza pan and press dough into pan making a nice ridge of dough. Place the pizza dough in the proof box for about 15 minutes until dough puffs up to about ¾-1 “thick.
Cut sausage into medallions and sauté until done, about 3-4 minutes. Top the pizza with cheese, and sprinkle the spices over cheese. Then add sausage, and mushrooms if desired, and top with well drained diced tomatoes and parmesan cheese. You can use the same basic base of the pizza and top it any way you like. Pepperoni is always a popular flavor. Below is a recipe for a vegetarian spinach pizza.
Press “START” again and bake under Chicago Deep Dish Pizza for 6 1/2 minutes until hot and bubbly and the crust is golden brown. Cut the pizza into 8 slices and serve.
Spinach pizza
Using a box of frozen, chopped spinach, thaw under running water and squeeze until no more liquid is released. You will reduce the amount of spinach to about 3 oz.
Follow the same recipe as above but when you build the pizza, first place about ½ cup of your favorite pizza or marinara sauce on the crust before putting the cheese onto the crust. Top with the same amount of cheese, spinach, spices, tomatoes and parmesan. If you are very adventurous, add minced, roasted garlic cloves. Bake the same way as noted above.
|