cast iron deep dish pizza
INGREDIENTS
For the crust:
8 ¼ ounces room-temperature water
1 packet (2 ¼ tsp) active dry yeast
1 tsp sugar
12 ½ ounces all-purpose flour
2 ½ ounces medium grind cornmeal
1 ½ tsp kosher salts
⅛ tsp cream of tartar
⅓ cup plus 2 Tbsp vegetable oil
For the sauce:
28-ounce can of whole San Marzano tomatoes
½ white onion
Few cloves of garlic
Pinch of crushed red pepper flake
Shake of oregano
Shake of basil
2-3 Tbsp tomato paste
1 Tbsp sugar
Olive oil
For the pizza toppings:
Mild Italian sausage, uncooked
shredded Provolone cheese
low moisture mozzarella cheese
grated parmesan
fresh mushrooms
Tomato Sauce
Put a 28oz can of whole San Marzano tomatoes into a bowl and crush by hand until the tomatoes are bite-sized pieces.
Finely chop half a white onion and smash and peel a few cloves of garlic. Into a high walled sauté plan, put a few tablespoons of olive oil and heat over medium until shimmering.
Once shimmering, add chopped onion and sweat for 2-3 minutes or until translucent around the edges, then add crushed garlic and sauté for an additional minute until fragrant. When fragrant, add a pinch of crushed red pepper flake, a shake of oregano, a shake of basil, and 2-3 tablespoons of tomato paste. Cook together for one minute.
Add the crushed tomatoes along with a tablespoon of sugar. Simmer for 20-30 minutes over medium heat, stirring regularly to prevent scorching, until the raw tomato flavor has cooked off and the sauce is thick. You know it’s thick enough when you drag a spoon through the sauce, it will part.
Crust and Assembly
Into a stand mixer bowl, add 1 packet (2 ¼ teaspoons) of active dry yeast and a teaspoon of sugar to 8 ¼ ounces of room temperature water. Let bloom for 10 minutes until foamy. In a separate bowl, whisk together 12 ½ ounces of all-purpose flour, 2 ½ ounces of medium grind cornmeal, 1 ½ teaspoons of kosher salt, and ⅛ teaspoon of cream of tartar. Pour dry ingredients into yeast mixture. Then add ⅓ cup plus 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil.
Using a dough hook, stir the mixture on low speed for 1-2 minutes until dough is off the side of the bowl. Then, put speed to medium for 7-8 minutes to knead until smooth and elastic. If the dough is too hydrated, lightly flour a cooking surface and knead by hand for an additional 1-2 minutes until consistency is soft and tacky, but not sticky.
Stretch dough into a ball and put it into a lightly oiled bowl, tossing to make sure it’s fully covered in oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and sit out at room temperature for 60-90 minutes, or until it has doubled in size.
Lubricate a 12-inch cast iron skillet with vegetable oil. Grease your hands and coax the dough out of the bowl and into the pan. Push into the shape of a pizza by stretching and pushing the dough up to the sides of the pan. Let rest under cover of plastic wrap for 20-30 minutes. While this rests, you can start your tomato sauce (see recipe above).
Press dough to sides of the pan, and it should easily hold its shape. Optional: Lay down a layer of raw mild Italian sausage into a nice even layer before the cheese.
Place a layer of deli-style sliced Provolone cheese on top next, then follow with a thick layer of low moisture mozzarella. More cheese = more cheese stretch!
Generously top cheese with tomato sauce until cheese is hidden. Then, sprinkle pre-grated parmesan on the sauce and drizzle olive oil on both the sauce and around the edge of the crust.
Put into 425°F oven for 25-35 minutes, rotating once during baking until cooked through. Run a thin spatula around the outside edge to make sure that there’s no sticking. Carefully slide pizza out the pan and wait at least 10 minutes before cutting and serving pizza. Waiting the 10min helps with keeping the integrity of the pizza in tact. Enjoy!
Yeast, corn meal, kosher salt purchased from the Penny weight Market Beausejour
Pepper flakes, Oregano & dried basil grown on our farm. dried and packaged.
Italian Sausage purchased from Deluca’s Italian grocer in Winnipeg