Deep Dish Skillet Pizza

Chicagoan-approved deep dish pizza, and a from-scratch dough that's ready in only 15 minutes!

Posted by Jessie Johnson

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Deep Dish Skillet Pizza
Makes 1 pizza (Serves 3-4)

Ingredients:

For the dough:
2 and 1/4 tsp. (1 package) active dry yeast
1 Tbsp. sugar
1 cup hot water (about 110-120 degrees)
3 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for brushing the dough
1 tsp. salt
2 and 3/4 cups all purpose flour, plus extra for dusting

For the pizza:
1 recipe of your favorite pizza dough
1/2 cup of your favorite pizza sauce (I use a cup of tomato sauce with 1 tsp of basil, oregano, crushed garlic, and a pinch of salt and pepper!)
1 and 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella
2/3 lb. ground Italian sausage, cooked

*Note: feel free to customize this pizza with any toppings you like! Some of my favorite variations include white sauce with spinach and chicken, red sauce with black olives and mushrooms, or classic cheese with parmesan, mozzarella, cheddar, and fontina. Have fun and explore new flavor combinations!

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You Will Need (1 thing)

  • Yeast

Steps (8 steps, 60 minutes)

  1. 1

    First, make the dough. Mix sugar, water, and yeast in a large bowl. Let sit for five minutes so the yeast to activate.

  2. 2

    Stir olive oil and salt into dough. Stir in 2 and 1/4 cups of the flour with a spoon or spatula.

  3. 3

    Knead in remaining flour by hand or with a dough hook in a stand mixer. Knead until dough is smooth and elastic, about 3 minutes.

  4. 4

    Cover dough with a towel and let it sit for at least five minutes. (I usually let it sit between 10 and 30 minutes, although you can also do the traditional two rises if you’ve got the time).

  5. 5

    Press pizza dough into a 10-12″ cast iron skillet. (If you don’t have cast iron, use a skillet or pot with very thick sides. The pizza has to bake for a long time so you want the heat to distribute very evenly. A ceramic casserole dish would also do the trick. A too-thin pan will burn the crust – you want it soft and chewy!) Flatten dough against the bottom of the pan and press it all the way up the sides of the skillet, as pictured.

  6. 6

    Spread 1/4 cup of the pizza sauce on the pizza. Then, spread a layer of 3/4 cup mozzarella. Continue layering by adding the sausage, and top the sausage layer with the remaining mozzarella cheese.

  7. 7

    Spread the remaining pizza sauce on top of the last layer of cheese.

  8. 8

    Bake at 375 for 35-45 minutes or until crust is golden brown. Slice and serve immediately.