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–+ servings

Homemade Chicago Style Deep Dish Pizza

This homemade chicago style deep dish pizza is served with sweet and flavorful roasted red pepper tomato sauce and has flexible topping options!
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Cook Time 30 minutes
Dough Rising and Roasting Time 1 hour 15 minutes
Course Dinner, lunch
Cuisine American
Servings 4

Equipment

  • Blender or Food Processor, Stand mixer for dough(can use hands, will take longer), 12 inch cast iron skillet

Ingredients
  

Sauce

  • 10 cloves garlic, peeled
  • 8 roma tomatoes (or the equivalent of any other tomato)
  • 4 medium red bell peppers, tops cut off and seeds and white pith removed
  • 2 tsp Italian herb puree (the herb puree is perfect for this recipe, but if you can't find it or don't have it, it is okay to use 1 tsp dried oregano, 1 tsp dried parsley and basil if you have it)
  • 4 tbsp olive oil (2 for roasting, 2 for blending)
  • 1/2 tsp table salt

Dough

  • 3 1/4 cups all purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup almond meal flour (also acceptable: cashew flour, oat flour, whole wheat flour)
  • 1 tsp table salt
  • 2 tsp granulated sugar
  • 1 1/4 cups water
  • 7 tbsp butter, melted in microwave for 1 minutes so not fully melted, but mostly
  • 1 7g or .25oz packet of active dry yeast (comes out to 2 1/4 tsp)
  • 1 tbsp olive oil for bowl

Toppings

  • 1 summer squash, cut into thin medallions (any vegetables/meats you wish to use are fine)
  • 1 zucchini, cut into thin medallions
  • 1/2 red onion, minced
  • 3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese (Mozzarella is great too, or any cheese you wish to use)

Instructions
 

Make the dough:

  • Preheat the oven to 400 degrees (for the sauce you will make while the dough rises).
  • In a large mixing bowl, combine both flours, yeast, sugar and salt. Turn on mixer with dough attachment and mix until fully combined.
  • Now, with the mixer on low, add the mostly melted butter and water. Mix until a dough ball forms and is well kneaded, about 5 minutes. You may have to turn the mixer off occasionally to get the flour off of the sides of the bowl. (if you are using your hands, knead the dough until fully combined, then knead for another 5 minutes: note that the dough will be very sticky, so use wet hands if needed)
  • Place the dough ball in a bowl with enough olive oil to coat the bottom and sides. Cover with plastic wrap and leave out on the counter to rise for 1 hour. After 1 hour, place in the fridge for 15 minutes.

Red Bell Pepper and Tomato Sauce:

  • Cut the red bell peppers into 6 large pieces each. Cut the tops off of the roma tomatoes, and slice into 4 flat pieces (see photo in post). Place the peppers and tomatoes in a large bowl with the garlic cloves. Toss with 2 tbsp olive oil and 1/2 tsp salt.
  • Spread vegetables over a foil lined baking sheet, and place in the oven. Roast, untouched, for 30 minutes.
  • When done, remove from the oven and let sit for 10 minutes.
  • Once slightly cooled, transfer to a blender or food processor. Add in 2 more tbsp of olive oil and blend until a sauce forms.

Making the Pie:

  • Increase oven temp to 425 degrees.
  • Take the dough out of the fridge and place on a heavily floured surface. Sprinkle flour over the top of the dough, and roll the dough out in a big circle until it is about 1/4 of an inch thick.
  • Transfer the dough to an oiled 12" cast iron skillet(not a lot of oil, just enough to coat bottom and sides). Press the dough to mold to the shape of the skillet, and remove any extra dough that overflows the edges of the skillet.
  • Pour in about 1 cup of the sauce (you will have extra, that is okay! Save it). Spread evenly over the bottom of the pie.
  • Sprinkle cheese over the top. You can never have enough cheese, so use whatever kind you like and as much as you like!
  • Take your sliced squash medallions and place on top of the cheese however you like. Sprinkle with chopped red onion.
  • Place the skillet in the oven and bake for 20-30 minutes (closer to 30 minutes, depending on thickness of dough), until crust is brown.
  • Remove, let sit for 10 minutes before cutting and serving. You can save extra pieces in the fridge for tomorrow! Option to garnish with basil, red pepper flakes and/or Parmesan cheese.
Keyword cheese, chicago style, crushed tomatoes, Deep dish, pizza, red bell pepper, roasted red pepper
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