5/7/09 | Leftovers: Deep Dish Pizza
[ Currently Eating: J&S Taco Plate ]
Remind me to get pissed off at food more often.
The other day I was sitting down to watch a hockey game. I had procurred one of those prepared meals from Fresh and Easy – this one was an enormous lasagna about the size of a small third world country. OMG, it was horrible, horrible, horrible. I’ve had really good experiences with F&E stuff, but their spaghetti meal is crap and this lasagna was probably the worst I’ve ever had EVER (a review is probably upcoming, if I can bring myself to revisit the horror).
Anyhow, here I was with a hockey game and nothing to eat. Farketty fark. I started to get mad. And when I get mad, instead of getting even, I usually cook something (I guess that is sort of getting even with the food). Usually something crazy, or at least something I haven’t tried before.
That something was Deep Dish Pizza.
I had just made up a batch of pizza dough the previous day, so I had the crust covered. I’ve always wanted to try to make one of these deep dish pizza things. I didn’t have the exact ingredients, but I decided to give it a go. In between the first and second period of the game, I set me up a cast iron pan with olive oil, the dough, cheese (I didn’t have Moz, only Jack Cheese), cooked sausage, mushrooms, diced tomatoes, bit of leftover spag sauce, some canned parm cheese.
Then I whacked it in the oven. It’s fun to whack things in the oven when you’re mad.
I came back during the commericals to find a pretty good approximation of a deep dish pizza. I know it’s not like the kind you’d get in Chicago, but I thought it was pretty darn good for being a first try.
After inhaling about three slices, I cut up the remainder and put it in the fridge for leftovers the next day. They actually held up pretty well which surprised me – as the pizza cools it solidifies, allowing you to move it around more easily. When I first took it out of the oven, it had been a little wet.
For those who make their own deep dish pizza, I had a question: do you cover deep dish pizza with aluminum foil while baking? I thought of doing this, but didn’t. Because of that, the crust got a little too crispy, though it wasn’t bad.
Next time, I also would probably omit the extra spaghetti sauce and just add more chopped tomatoes. The mushrooms were uncooked which was a mistake that I should’ve caught – that extra water came out and added too much moisture. I’d also use mozzarella cheese, and more of it. I think I didn’t use enough cheese. You can never have too much cheese.
Other than these minor issues, I thought it was surprisingly good.
Oh, and we won the hockey game.
May 7th, 2009 at 5:25 pm
There are two great things about pizza you make. The first is that there are no rules as to what toppings you can use, so your combination certainly sounds nearly perfect to me (although I agree with you about not using raw mushrooms). The second is that leftovers are good hot or cold.
Whenever I make deep dish pizza, I cover the edge of the crust with a couple of strips of aluminum foil. About halfway through the cooking time, I remove the foil to let the edges brown. I’d advise against covering the entire pizza with foil, though, since the ingredients in the center will steam rather than bake and the pizza will be kind of mushy in the middle. I’ve also used canned, diced tomatoes on the pizza, but be sure to drain them well before you put them on the dough!
May 8th, 2009 at 7:28 am
YaY! I love deep dish pizza! I make mine in a pie pan because my cast iron can’t go in the oven (stain on the wooden handle smokes, I’ve tried). I don’t cover with foil but maybe that’s not a bad idea. I need a new cast iron though for sure!
May 8th, 2009 at 3:36 pm
Looks absolutely delicious! Wnat to try doing my own deep dish sometime, usually stick with the thin crust for homemade, deep dish order out.
May 17th, 2009 at 1:05 pm
That pizza looks really good. I actually combined techniques from my mothers drop biscuit recipe with my mother-in-laws flour tortilla recipe to make a quick no rise pizza dough. It really works well for week nights, and it’s cheap. I just took about 3-4 cups flour, pinch baking powder, 1/2 tsp salt mixed it all together. drizzled in about 1/2 tbs olive oil and incorporated that by hand until the flour felt like cornstarch(for totillas you would use canola or lard either one). Then added in milk (from the biscuit recipe, this makes it rise for handtossed/pan style) until the dough came together and was slightly sticky. I’ve used it several times and the hubby said it’s the best homemade crusts he’s had. I like the bottom to be crispy so I heated my cast iron skillet in the oven with some olive oil before putting the dough in it. You just have to be careful not to burn youself when you’re foming the dough in the hot skillet. You can substitute water for the milk for a thinner crust pizza and it’s more like a homemade tortilla consistency.
August 18th, 2009 at 6:08 am
Man, i would do anything for a deep dish pizza now ( nothing kinky)
By the way, what hockey team are you rooting for?
I’m a die hard Habs fan
GO HABS GO!
August 18th, 2009 at 7:45 am
@chuck – awhile back I tried your aluminum foil technique for protecting the crust, worked like a charm. Thanks!
@andrea – I recently picked up a few more cast iron pans for cheap at the goodwill. Nice to have diff sizes so you can make a deep dish depending on who else is eating.
@jason – I broke my pizza stone awhile back, so I may have to make more deep dish than thin crust for awhile
@funkety – That biscuit recipe sounds interesting, I might try it one day
@phil – I think you might hate me, but I’m a Ducks fan. =) Well, there’s only one team I really dislike and it’s the Red Wings. But I like the Habs actually, they’re probably my second fave eastcoast team, after the Pens. It’s interesting we got Koivu from the Habs, wonder if he’ll play w/ Selanne.