Prep Time:  90 mins
Cook Time:  60 mins
Total Time:  150 mins
Servings:  3-5

Want to make delicious homemade deep dish pizza? Today we'll do just that! We'll start off by making deep dish pizza dough, then throw together a quick homemade pizza sauce. In Chicago style, we pile this pizza with a thick base layer of mozzarella and provolone cheese, then top it with italian sausage, red wine reduction caramelized onions, roasted bell peppers, and coat the top in the homemade tomato sauce and a little Parmesan cheese. We're gonna bake it in our pizza oven, and the end result will be crispy and delicious!

Ingredients

Ingredients for Pizza Dough

  • 3/4 cup + 2 Tbsp warm water
  • 1/2 tsp honey
  • 3/4 tsp active dry yeast
  • 4 Tbsp corn oil
  • 3 Tbsp unsalted butter, slightly melted
  • 1 cup + 2 Tbsp bread flour (A)
  • 1/4 cup semolina flour
  • 1/2 tsp sea salt
  • 2 cups bread flour (B)

Ingredients for Topping

  • 1 lb sliced mozzarella cheese
  • 1 lb sliced provolone cheese
  • 1 lb Italian sausage crumble
  • 2 multicolor fire roasted bell peppers
  • 1 cup baby spinach
  • 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

Ingredients for Red Wine Reduction Onion Topping

  • 1 yellow onion
  • 1 1/2 cups red wine
  • 3 Tbsp unsalted butter
  • 2 tsp granulated sugar
  • 1/2 tsp kosher salt

Ingredients for Sauce

  • 4 1/2 cups crushed fire roasted tomatoes
  • 2 cloves garlic paste
  • 1 tsp granulated sugar
  • 1/4 cup fresh chopped basil
  • 2 tsp coarse salt
  • 3/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

Items You'll Need

Instructions

Instructions for Pizza Dough

  1. In a mixing bowl, add bread flour A, semolina flour, and sea salt. Mix well.
  2. In another mixing bowl, add warm mineral water, whisk in honey and active dry yeast.
  3. Set yeast mixture aside and allow the yeast to activate for a few minutes.
  4. In a small bowl, mix together slightly melted butter and corn oil.
    5. Pressing pizza dough into cast iron skillet
  5. Once yeast activates and water appears cloudy, combine everything together with your dry ingredients in the mixing bowl.
  6. Mix everything well, then add bread flour B to form a dough consistency.
  7. Lightly knead dough in the bowl to incorporate flour and form a dough ball.
  8. Coat mixing bowl with some olive oil, place dough in bowl, cover with a towel and allow to rise for 2 hours in a warm place. Optionally, place covered dough in the fridge and allow it to slow rise for 1-2 days.

Instructions for Red Wine Reduction Onion Topping

  1. In a sauce pan, reduce down red wine by half on a low simmer.
    2. Pouring red wine into sauce pan
  2. In another pan, melt some butter and add in onions.
  3. Add in salt, sugar, and red wine. Toss to coat.
  4. Place onions in a preheated 350°F oven for about 20 minutes, or until caramelized.
  5. Set aside to cool.

Instructions for Pizza Sauce

  1. Over medium heat, pour in crushed fire roasted tomatoes, garlic paste, chopped basil, sugar, and season to taste with some kosher salt and black pepper.
  2. Let the sauce simmer for about 5 minutes to reduce, then you can shut off the burner and sprinkle in some fresh grated parmesan.
  3. Allow sauce to cool before using on pizza.

Instructions for Pizza

  1. In a 15 inch cast iron skillet, brush corn oil on bottom of the pan, avoiding the side walls.
  2. Place dough ball in the center and begin pressing outward towards the edge of the pan.
  3. Press dough about 1/4 of an inch thick across bottom of the pan, then begin working it up the sides of the pan.
  4. Leave at least 1/2 inch space between the top of the crust and the top of the pan to avoid burning.
  5. Use your fingers to press several indentations into the base of the crust, this will help it cook more even.
    6. Assembling pizza toppings over pizza sauce
  6. Layer in mozzarella and provolone cheese in about 2 layers, slightly overlapping to avoid missing any areas.
  7. Add a layer of Italian sausage above the cheese, press everything down.
  8. Add caramelized onions, baby spinach, fire roasted bell peppers and press down.
  9. Add layer of pizza sauce across the top, sprinkle on grated parmesan.
  10. Preheat your oven to around 500°F, place pizza in oven.
    11. Placing assembled deep dish pizza into Lynx Napoli pizza oven
  11. After putting pizza in oven, reduce oven heat to 425-450°F for remainder of the cook.
  12. Tip: If edges of crust start to brown early on, cover pizza with foil.
  13. Cook pizza for about 40 minutes, remove foil if you covered it and finish cooking uncovered for last 5 minutes.
  14. Remove pizza and allow it to set up for 10 minutes before slicing.
  15. Slice, serve, and enjoy!
Full deep dish pizza baked and removed from skillet