Deep Dish Pizza

Last week I made my first attempt at deep dish pizza (Lou Malnati's style with the sauce on top). I have to say that it was pretty good but the recipe needs a little more work so I'm not even gonna post the specifics. Once I perfect it, then I'll post it.

I will share that a great method for making deep dish pizza crust is letting it rise for an hour or so in a bowl then rolling it out into the size of your pan and letting it rise in the pan for another hour or so. After that, just push down the middle, leaving the outside of the dough higher for the crust.

For the sauce I combined canned whole tomatoes, crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce, red wine, oregano, salt and pepper and a little sugar. Then I simmered for a few hours to let the flavors concentrate. I think next time I would add less tomato sauce and simmer for a little less time (and maybe use stewed tomatoes instead of crushed ones).

For the crust I used flour, yeast, water, salt, a little sugar and some olive oil. I read somewhere online that the key to a buttery Lou Malnatis crust is adding olive oil to the crust but it seemed to make the dough a little tough. Does anyone out there have any tips for awesome deep dish crust?

Oh yeah, and you can't forget the cheese! I used a combo of fresh and shredded mozzarella and then some Parmesan on top.

I'm already excited to make it again and even better the next time.