Deep Dish Pizza

Through the mouth of a babe, "please never buy a pizza again, only make it from now on!" This is pretty good, I'm not going to lie. I cook this in my 12" cast iron pan, and it usually makes another 8 inch pizza or so as well. It's very good in that pan because of the seasoning, but you could always use another baking dish if need be.

Pizza dough Ingredients:

3 1/4 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp sugar
2 1/4 yeast
1/2 cup cornmeal
1 1/4 cups room temperature water
3 Tbs melted butter

Sauce (recipe follows)
Cheese (about 2 cups). 2/3 freshly grated mozzarella, 1/3 freshly grated parmesean mixed together.

Mix until dough comes together. About 1 to 2 minutes scraping sides as necessary. Turn to medium until dough completely clears the sides.

Add 1 Tbs olive oil to coat bowl. Put dough in the bowl and turn dough to coat. Cover and let rise for 45 minutes to an hour,or until dough has doubled in size. Roll dough out on flat surface in a rectangle shape. Add  4 Tbs softened butter on top and spread evenly. Leaving about 1/2 inch on the ends to seal. Starting at the short end, roll dough into cylinder. Lightly roll dough out a little flat. Cut dough into the size you would like your pizza. (For 12" and 8" I do about 3/4 of the dough and 1/4 the dough). Fold each dough into thirds and seal edges. Pinch and shape into a ball. Put dough back into bowl and let rise about 40 to 50 minutes.  Prepare pans by adding 2-1/2 Tbsp olive oil in the 12" pan and 1 Tbsp in the 8" pan (more or less depending on your pan sizes). Remove dough from bowl and put on flat surface. Roll dough out until it is the right size for your pan. Press the dough into the pan evenly. Leaving a very small crust area around the edge, top with sauce (recipe follows) and cheese mixture. Add toppings to your desire (sometimes I like to put the pepperoni underneath the cheese and on top as well). Bake at 425 degrees on the lowest position in the oven for 20-30 minutes or until cheese is melted and crust is golden brown.

Sauce Ingredients:

1-2 small cans tomato puree
1 small can tomato sauce
1 teaspoon marjoram
1 teaspoon basil
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon garlic powder

Add tomato puree in a small pot and heat on medium. Add tomato sauce to desired texture. You want it thick enough, but not too thick! Add spices (you can use 1-1 1/2 Tbsp pizza seasoning in place of the individual spices). Turn heat down to medium-low to simmer, stirring frequently. Heat for about 20-30 minutes with the lid on. You want the sauce to darken up a little bit. Remove from heat when it is your desired texture/flavor.