Deep Dish Pizza by @ButterBeReady

Deep-dish pizza is having a moment. We’re teaming up with Quin from @butterbeready to create a version that takes it over the top. A homemade crust is covered in cheese, then loaded with three layers of meat. Finally, the sauce, more mozz, and sopressata. This goes beyond supreme. It’s equal amounts of crispy crust and gooey cheese. Go ahead and try to resist this trifecta of meat heaven.

Featuring

prep time
30minutes
assembly time
60minutes
Serves
6people

preparation & ingredients

2 1/4 tsp. Active-dry yeast

1 tsp. Granulated sugar

3 1/4 cups All-purpose flour

1/3 cup Fine yellow cornmeal or polenta

2 tsp. Kosher salt

3 Tbsp. Murray’s EVOO, plus more for greasing

1 Tbsp. Vermont Creamery Unsalted Butter, melted

1 Tbsp. Murray’s EVOO

1 lb. Italian sausage, casings removed

1 Small yellow onion, sliced thinly

4 slices Surry Farm Hickory Bacon, roughly chopped

1 cup Otamot Organic Essential Sauce

1 Small green bell pepper, sliced thinly

5 Cloves of garlic, finely minced

3 oz. Brooklyn Cured Sliced Hot Sopressata

4 tsp. Italian seasoning

1 lb. Low-moisture mozzarella cheese, shredded

1-2 oz. Murray’s Lightly Salted Mozzarella

1-2 oz. Murray’s Parmigiano Reggiano cheese

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

In a medium bowl, combine the yeast, sugar, and 1 ½ cups of warm water together. To be precise, the water should be between 110-115 degrees. Allow the mixture to sit together for 10 minutes until the mixture has bloomed and is fragrant. Then set aside.

In the bowl of a cleaned stand mixer, add in the flour, cornmeal, salt, olive oil, and melted butter. Then pour in the yeast mixture.

Attach a dough hook to the mixer and knead together for about 90 seconds. Look for the dough to come together into a smooth/elastic texture without any of it sticking to the sides of the bowl.

Lightly grease a large bowl with olive oil. Then shape the dough into a ball and place it into the bowl. Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap. Let the dough sit out in a draft-free environment until it doubles in size, about 1 ½ - 2 hours (this depends on the temperature of your environment). Alternatively, transfer the bowl to the refrigerator to rest overnight.

When ready to make the pizza, punch the dough down. If you refrigerate the dough, allow it to come back up to room temperature before making the pizza.

In a large skillet over medium heat, coat the pan with olive oil. Once the oil is shimmering, break the sausage into pieces and add it into the pan. Cook the sausage, stirring often, until browned completely. Then use a slotted utensil to transfer the browned sausage to a cleaned plate.

Add the chopped bacon into the same pan and cook until crisp. Remove the bacon and set aside on a paper towel lined plate. Add the onion/bell pepper mixture into the pan and sauté until tender, about 3-4 minutes. Then add in the garlic and continue cooking together for another 1 minute. Pour in the sauce along with the seasoning and salt/pepper, to taste. Stir everything together to combine. Allow the sauce to simmer together for 2-3 minutes, stirring every so often. Then remove the sauce from heat and set aside.

Preheat the oven to 450°F. Generously rub olive oil in a 12-inch cast iron skillet (or 12-inch round cake pan/deep dish pan). Grab the pizza dough and use your hands to carefully spread it out and press into the vessel on the bottom and a little up the sides of the pan. Evenly sprinkle the shredded mozzarella on the bottom of the dough, reserving about a handful for the top. Then sprinkle the cooked sausage on top, followed by the cooked bacon. Next, arrange the Sopressata slices on top of the sausage mixture, reserving a few slices for the top. Use a utensil to evenly spread the sauce over everything. Top with remaining shredded mozzarella and Sopressata slices. Garnish the top with fresh mozzarella pieces.

Bake the pizza for 25 minutes or until the crust is golden brown and the top of the pizza is bubbly. Top with freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese. Allow the pizza to cool down for 10-15 minutes, then slice and serve.