Deep Dish Pizza

Last week I was scrolling across Quarry Girl's blog and I came across her deep dish pizza post. I looked up how to make them and noticed that it isn't that different from making a regular pizza. Only a couple changes needed, such as adding semolina flour to your pizza dough and obviously changing your pan to a deep dish pizza pan.

I don't know how many of you own deep dish pans but I sadly do not. I substituted it with my 9 inch cake pan and the result came out fine. This recipe took me an hour and a half to make, which really isn't that bad, considering that the dough and sauce are all made from scratch.

Feel free to change around the toppings to any veggies of your choice. Now go ahead and impress your friends with your very own Chicago style pizza!

Printer Friendly Recipe Here

Ingredients

Pizza Dough

* 3/4 cup warm water ( 110 F )

* 1 ( 1/4 ounce ) package of active dry yeast

* 1/2 tsp sugar

* 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

* 1/4 cup semolina flour

* 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

* 1/2 tsp salt

Pizza Sauce

* 1 Tb extra virgin olive oil

* 1/2 cup onion, chopped

* 1/4 cup celery, chopped

* 1 garlic clove, minced

* 1 ( 8 ounce ) can tomato sauce

* 1 ( 6 ounce ) can tomato paste

* 1 tsp dried basil

* 1 tsp dried oregano

* 1/2 tsp salt

* 1/2 tsp sugar

* 1/4 tsp black pepper

* 1 small bay leaf

Toppings

* 1/2 pound vegan mozzarella cheese, shredded ( I prefer Daiya Italian cheese )

* 4 ounces mushrooms, sliced thinly

* 1/2 green bell pepper, sliced thinly

* 1/2 yellow onion, sliced thinly

* 1/2 pound spicy Italian sausage, crumbled, cooked as directed on package ( I used Field Roast Mexican Chipotle sausages )

Directions

First prepare the dough...

1. In a small bowl, combine water, yeast and sugar and stir to combine. Let sit for about 10 minutes or until the mixture is foamy.

2. In a large bowl, combine the all-purpose flour, semolina flour, oil, salt and yeast mixture. Stir well to combine.

3. Transfer to a lightly floured surface and knead for about 5 to 10 minutes, until a smooth dough has formed. Place in a lightly oiled bowl and turn to cover the entire dough with oil.

4. Cover with a damp towel and allow to rise in a warm area until double in size, about 45 minutes.

While the dough rises, start making your sauce...

5. In a medium sized sauce pan, heat olive oil over medium high heat. Add the onion, celery and garlic and saute until soft and the onions are transparent.

6. Add tomato sauce and tomato paste and stir until smooth.

7. Add the remaining ingredients and bring to a slow simmer. Simmer for 30-60 minutes. Remove bay leaf.

Preheat oven to 420 F

8. Oil a 12 inch round deep-dish pizza pan with extra virgin olive oil. Place the dough in the pan, pressing to the edge and stretching about 1 1/2 inches up the sides. Let rest for 5 minutes.

9. Layer half of the mozzarella all over the bottom of the pie.

Top with the sausages and onions

bell peppers

mushrooms

Ladle the sauce evenly over everything.

Sprinkle the rest of the mozzarella evenly over the top of the pie.

10. Bake until the top is golden, cheese is bubbly and the crust is golden brown, about 25 minutes. Remove from oven, slice and serve hot.

On a side note, here a recent shot of my boy..nothing like a good rub down to start off your day!

Pesto Pizza with Gardein "Chicken" and Tomatoes

This is my second time making pizza at home and I can see that I've improved a lot from the last time I attempted. My problem last time was that I did not knead the dough for as long as I should. The result was the dough wasn't as smooth and was left feeling really sticky.
Another thing that I changed was I rolled my pizza dough straight on the pizza pan. It's a lot faster and easier, since you don't have to transfer the dough from the rolling board to the pan.

If you haven't tried Gardein's chicken strips yet, I recommend you do. This was my first time and I was so surprised at how much it smelt and tasted like real chicken. I try not to buy a lot of pre-made, processed "meats" but it was so good that I think it might just become one of my guilty pleasures of eating with some sweet and sour sauce mmmm! : ]

Okay, okay back to the pizza. I left it simple and just added the "chicken" and tomato slices but feel free to load on the different toppings. I used a 13" pizza pan and that gave out 6 decent sized slices. It baked for a little under 20 minutes, so keep an eye on it after 20 minutes to make sure the cheese doesn't burn.

Enjoy!

Printer Friendly Recipe Here

Ingredients
Pizza Dough

* 1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
* 1 cup warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
* 2 cups whole wheat bread flour
* 2 tablespoons olive oil
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 2 teaspoons brown sugar

Basil Cilantro Pesto ( Recipe from Veganomicon )

* 2 cups loosely packed fresh basil leaves
* 1 cup loosely packed fresh cilantro
* 1/3 cup slivered or sliced almonds
* 2 cloves garlic, crushed
* 2 Tb fresh lemon juice ( about 1/2 a lemon )
* 1/2 tsp salt
* 1/4 cup olive oil

Toppings

* 1 package of faux chicken strips ( such as Gardein or Morningstar )
* 1 beefsteak tomato, sliced
* 3/4 to 1 cup thinly shredded vegan cheese ( such as Daiya 'Italian' cheese )

Directions
Dough
1. In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.


2. In a large bowl, combine 2 cups bread flour, olive oil, salt, sugar and the yeast mixture; stir well to combine.

3. Knead for about 5 minutes, until a smooth dough is formed. Cover and allow to rise until doubled in volume, about 30 minutes.


Meanwhile start making your pesto...

4. Place the basil, cilantro, almonds, garlic, lemon juice and salt in a food processor and blend until pasty, scraping down the sides occasionally. With the food processor still running, slowly drizzle in the olive oil. Blend until relatively smooth and no large chunks of almonds are left. Set aside.


5. Cook the "chicken" according to directions on package and set aside to cool. Once cooled, use a sharp knife to roughly chop each chicken strip, until it starts to resemble shredded chicken.


Preheat oven to 400 F

To assemble the pizza

6. By now the dough should have risen to double its size. If not, wait a couple minutes longer. When ready, turn dough out onto a well floured surface. Form dough into a round and roll out into a pizza crust shape.


7. Pour pesto over the crust and spread.


8. Sprinkle half a cup of shredded cheese over the sauce. Place the shredded "chicken" and tomato slices over the cheese. Finally sprinkle another 1/4 cup cheese over the toppings.


9. Bake in preheated oven until golden brown, about 18 to 25 minutes or until your cheese is melted and the crust has hardened.

Vegetable Pizza

This was so a spur of the moment meal. I wasn't even sure if I wanted to blog it because I just grabbed vegetables I had lying around my fridge and it isn't some amazing recipe. But the sauce was really yummy and so was the dough, so I wanted to post mainly to share those two recipes. Maybe in a week or so I'll do another pizza recipe and that one will be a little more special.

Speaking of which, do any of you search your neighborhood library for vegan cookbooks? I went into mine for the first time last week and was amazed at how many vegan and vegetarian cookbooks they had.

This was my first time making pizza dough and it was a lot easier than I thought. I always pictured a pizza guy flipping the dough over his head and into the air..so not necessary here..a simple rolling pin will do. The dough was really sticky though, so make sure your hands, the rolling pin and the rolling mat are all sprinkled with flour or it will stick to anything it touches. The best part about making pizza is the amazing aroma that fills your house as it bakes!

Printer Friendly Recipe Here

Ingredients
Pizza Sauce :
* 1 Tb olive oil
* 1/2 cup onion, chopped
* 1/4 cup celery, chopped
* 1 garlic clove, minced
* 1 (8 ounce) cans tomato sauce
* 1 (6 ounce) cans tomato paste
* 2 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese
* 1 teaspoon dried basil
* 1 teaspoon dried oregano
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 teaspoon sugar
* 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
* 1 small bay leaf

Pizza Dough
* 1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
* 1 cup warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
* 2 cups whole wheat bread flour
* 2 tablespoons olive oil
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 2 teaspoons white sugar

Toppings
* any vegetables of your choice ( I used minced garlic, mushrooms, yellow squash and tomatoes )
* 1 cup or so of shredded Italian Daiya cheese or any other vegan cheese


Directions
Sauce
1. In a large skillet, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the onion, celery and garlic and saute until soft and transparent.

2. Add tomato sauce and tomato paste and stir until smooth.

3. Add remaining ingredients and bring to slow simmer. Simmer for 30-60 minutes.

4. Remove the bay leaf and spread the sauce on your prepared pizza dough.

Dough
1. In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.

2. In a large bowl, combine 2 cups bread flour, olive oil, salt, sugar and the yeast mixture; stir well to combine.

3. Beat well until a stiff dough has formed. Cover and rise until doubled in volume, about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

4. Turn dough out onto a well floured surface. Form dough into a round and roll out into a pizza crust shape. Cover with your favorite sauce and toppings and bake in preheated oven until golden brown, about 25 minutes or until your cheese is melted and the crust has hardened.