Deep Dish Pizza

Submitted by Chef #186948

"I love to make this simple dish. Last night I made a deep dish pizza that was inspired by a recent episode of "The Frugal Gourmet". It turned out so well that I thought I'd share it with you. I'm having leftovers for lunch today. I'm also writing it up from memory and have no "real" recipe, so bear with me."

 

• Ready In: 45mins
• Ingredients: 13
• Serves: 10

ingredients

• 2 1⁄2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 (1/4 ounce) packet active instant yeast
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 cup warm water
• 1⁄2 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
• 2 (14 1/2 ounce) cans whole tomatoes
• 2 teaspoons fresh basil
• 2 teaspoons salt and pepper
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• 4 fresh garlic cloves, minced
• 1 onion, sliced thinly
• 1 tomatoes

directions

1. To make the crust, combine the yeast, salt, sugar, 1 cup of the flour and the cup of warm water. Mix thoroughly.
2. Since you aren't proofing the yeast first, the water needs to be a bit hotter than usual.
3. Add enough of the remaining 1 1/2 cups of flour to form a soft dough.
4. Knead it for a few minutes, then put it back in the bowl, cover and set aside to rise.
5. In the meantime, prepare the veggies.
6. Saute the onions in some red wine until caramelized.
7. Squeeze the moisture out of the thawed spinach.
8. Break up the tomatoes slightly and set them in a sieve to drain. You don't want them soupy.
9. Save the juice for something else.
10. When the pizza dough has more or less doubled in bulk (usually in less than. an hour- I find you don't need to be too technical with pizza dough), punch it down.
11. Lightly spray a 10 inch spring form pan with cooking spray.
12. Press the dough into the pan and up the sides.
13. Spread the shredded cheese over the crust.
14. Top with the tomatoes which have been mixed with the basil leaves.
15. Season with the salt, oregano and black pepper.
16. Sprinkle the minced garlic over the tomatoes, then the add the sauteed onions.
17. Top the onions with the spinach and then arrange the sliced tomato decoratively on top.
18. Bake at 425°F in the middle of the oven for about 45 minutes or so.
19. Since it's so thick, it takes quite awhile for the filling to heat all the way through.
20. It makes a lovely presentation when you remove the ring from the springform pan.
21. The fillings I used are what I happened to have around the house.
22. You can use anything you wish.
23. I think artichokes, mushrooms, eggplant, roasted peppers and brocolli would be especially good.
24. I was quite pleased with the way the Healthy Choice fake cheese melted.
25. Recently, I tried the Kraft fat-free singles (sharp cheddar flavor) and found them to be as good as any full fat processed cheese slice (for what that's worth).
26. They melted well as part of a burrito filling.