Deep dish pizza 厚片比薩

We love pizza! For some reason, such simple ingredients yet taste delicious! Cheese, pepperoni and the crust please my taste buds very much! I like to make pizza at home, because I can be very generous with the toppings and not worried about extra charge. We love UNO's deep dish pizza, and we also visited the original deep dish pizza, Gino's East, when we were in Chicago two summers ago. Now I attempt to make it at home. Luckily I can follow Carol's instructions. It tastes wonderful!

 

Ingredients (serves 2-3):

• 100 g Whole wheat flour
• 200 g Bread flour
• 2 Tsp wheat germ (optional)
• 1/2 tsp Instant yeast
• 30 g Olive oil
• 190 g Water
• 1/2 tsp salt

• 4 tomatoes
• Seasoning: Italian seasonings, Parmesan cheese

• Color peppers
• Pepperoni slices
• Mozzarella cheese

Instructions:

1. Make the dough: Mix all ingredients together. Let rise for 1 hr at room temperature. 

2. Make the tomato sauce: Cut a cross on the tomato and soak in hot water for 1 minute. Then peel off the skin. Cut into small cubes, and use a blender to mash them. Cook the tomatoes in a pan until the volume has reduced. Add the seasoning. Set aside.

3. When the dough is done rising, divide the dough into two parts in 1:2 ratio. (One dough is twice as big as the other one.) Cover with dam towel and let rest for 20 minutes.

4. Grease a 8-inch springform pan. Roll the bigger piece into 10-inch in diameter. Put it in the pan. 

5. Spread the tomato sauce, some toppings and mozzarella cheese.

6. Roll out the other piece into a 9-inch piece and put it on top of the first layer. Fold the edges of the two layers together.

7. Use a fork to make marks on the top layer, then spread the tomato sauce, toppings and cheese on.

8. Bake at 200 C (400 F) for 30 minutes.

Note: This is a more healthy version of the Chicago deep dish pizza. It tastes more like bread with pizza toppings; however, the whole wheat flour really makes the dough flavorful. The classic Chicago deep dish pizza crust is very buttery, which is its well-known feature -- a thick, crisp crust with an airy, flaky interior. Will find some other time to post the recipe.