Name: Lightened-Up Deep Dish Pizza
Prep time: 1 h
Cook time: 40 min
Total time: 1 h 40 min
Yield: 6
Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients: 3 cups all purpose flour; 2 tablespoon yellow cornmeal; 1 teaspoon kosher salt; 2 teaspoon highly active yeast; 3 tablespoon olive oil; 2 tablespoons butter melted; 1 cup lukewarm water; 2 cups 2% milk shredded mozzarella cheese divided; 1 pound uncooked ground turkey sausage sweet or hot, casings removed; 1/2 red onion roughly chopped; 1 bell pepper diced; 2 teaspoons garlic cloves minced or crushed, or 1/2garlic powder; 14 ounces canned petite diced tomatoes drained; 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning; 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese; 1 teaspoon olive oil

Ingredients

Scale

Crust

3 cups all purpose flour
2 tablespoon yellow cornmeal
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 teaspoon highly active yeast
3 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons butter melted
1 cup lukewarm water

Filling

2 cups 2% milk shredded mozzarella cheese divided
1 pound uncooked ground turkey sausage sweet or hot, casings removed
1/2 red onion roughly chopped
1 bell pepper diced
2 teaspoons garlic cloves minced or crushed, or 1/2garlic powder
14 ounces canned petite diced tomatoes drained
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon olive oil

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Instructions

Combine all crust ingredients in the bowl of your stand mixer. Using the dough hook attachment, stir on lowest setting to combine, then mix on medium speed for 7 minutes.
Spray a large (2 qt.) glass bowl with cooking spray, and transfer dough to the bowl.
Cover with a towel, and allow to sit at room temperature for an hour or two. Dough will get large and puffy during this time.
Spray a 10″ or 12″ iron skillet or deep pizza pan with cooking spray. Stretch your dough into a circle, and lay it in the bottom of your prepared pan. Press the dough to the edges and up the sides of the pan. Cover dough with a towel to rest during the next steps.
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
While oven is preheating, heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Saute sausage, bell pepper, onion, and garlic until sausage is cooked through, 7-10 minutes. Turn off heat, and drain off excess liquid.
We’re almost there, friends! Remove the towel from the dough, and push the crust up the sides of the pan again if it has slipped down. Prick a few holes in the bottom with a fork, then bake in the preheated oven for 10 minutes.
Remove baked crust from the oven. Sprinkle 1 cup of mozzarella evenly over the bottom of the crust. Fill crust with sausage mixture. Evenly spread drained tomatoes over the sausage. Sprinkle Italian seasoning and parmesan cheese over the tomatoes. Spread remaining mozzarella over the top.
Use a basting brush to coat the exposed pizza crust with olive oil. Bake your glorious pizza for 25-30 minutes in the 425 degree oven, until the cheese is melted and starting to brown.
Remove pizza from oven, and allow to stand for about 10 minutes before cutting.

Notes

Have a couple paper towels handy when you cut this pizza because some juices might drain out.
The thing about 2% milk cheese is that it doesn’t melt quite right. For a meltier cheese, throw caution to the wind and use full-fat mozzarella.

Adapted from Chicago-Style Deep Dish Pizza from King Arthur Flour.

Author: Andi
Prep Time: 60
Cook Time: 40
Category: Main
Cuisine: Italian