CHICAGO MEAT-LOVER'S DEEP-DISH PIZZA RECIPE

Sweet Italian sausage, meatballs, prosciutto, Genoa salami, pepperoni and bacon with onions and mushrooms in a marinara sauce topped with melted mozzarella cheese.

Ingredients:

8  2.5 oz  - Italian, onion or herbed meatballs, browned
1  lb  - Sweet Italian sausage, cut into 8 links, browned
8  slices  - Genoa Salami
8  slices  - Prosciutto or Capacola
8  slices  - Bacon, cooked
8  slices  - Pepperoni, large
1  medium - Red or yellow onion, sliced into 1/4" rings, raw
1 to 1 1/2 cups  - White mushrooms, sliced or quartered, butter sauté optional
1/2  cup  - Colossal black or Calamato olives, pitted, whole or halved
1 1/2 to 2 tbsp  - Fresh garlic, minced
1  tbsp  - Italian seasonings*
1/4  cup  - Parmesan cheese, fine freshly grated
2 cups - Mozzarella cheese, grated

Preparation:

2 1/2 to 3 cups - Your favorite marinara, pizza or spaghetti sauce, or, try ours at Pizzeria Pizza Sauce Recipes.

28 oz. - Pizza Dough Ball. Find a terrific pizza dough recipe just perfect for this pizza in our Pizzeria Pizza Dough Recipes.

Form the dough:

Roll out a 28 oz. ball of pizza dough into an 18" round and 3/8" thick circle.
Form into a deep-dish pizza pan, allowing the edges of the dough circle to droop
over the top cutting edge of the baking pan.

(Important: Fill the dough shell with the ingredients before trimming the crust edge so that
the dough does not slip down into the vertical pan wall and become "bunched" and uneven!)

Assembling the Deep-Dish Pizza:

Pour half of the sauce into the dough shell and spread evenly over the bottom.

Arrange the meats uniformly around the bottom of the pan.

Lace the vegetables over the meats.

Sprinkle over with garlic and seasonings.

Layer the Mozzarella cheese evenly over the filling.

Top by dribbling the remaining sauce over the cheese layer, then sprinkle with the Parmesan.

Now, trim away the excess dough drooping from the pan edge, leaving enough dough around the circumference to "flute" with thumbs or a fork, or, "fold and tuck" a curled, uniform crust edge around the pizza.

Baking and serving:

Bake pizza in a pre-heated oven at 300°F - 325°F on the middle rack until mixture bubbles and dough crust is medium brown, (45 to 55 minutes).

When done, let cool to set up a little while then slip from pan onto a large cutting board.

The pizza can be cut into slices, (once removed from the pan), or served whole in the pan as is often done.

Serves 4-8 hungry meat-lovers.

* Some spice manufacturers offer a blended seasoning mix, in a packet or shaker bottle, generically referred to as "Italian Seasonings." This blend often contains dried, crushed/flaked or ground oregano, basil, sage, savory, marjoram, thyme and rosemary. If you cannot find this product pre-blended, try making one of your own by combining equal amounts of each of these herbs/spices. You can make a quantity of this mixture and keep it in an air-tight jar in the refrigerator for future use.