Deep pan pizza pie

Back in the day before Pizza Express took over the world our pizza parlour of choice was the Chicago Deep Pan Pizza Company.  Nowadays Pizza Express is my favourite but last week in the Metro there was an article about deep pan pizza with a recipe so I decided to revisit it.  The mixture made enough for two pizza pies and a flat one.  The finished article looked and tasted like a big version of the mini deep pan ones you buy from the freezer department and went down well here.  This o0ne's for you Ollie as your mum asked for more savoury recipes!

DEEP PAN PIZZA PIE

 

 

The dough

• 3/4 tsp sugar
• 3/4 tsp dried active yeast
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 20g butter, melted
• 500g strong white flour
• 50g grated cheddar cheese
• 310ml warm water

Tomato sauce

• 2 red onions sliced
• thyme
• tin of tomatoes
• a garlic clove chopped (or a tsp Lazy Garlic)
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• seasoning
• 1 tbsp. olive oil ( I used garlic oil)

 

Melt the butter.

In a jug combine the warm water, sugar and yeast and leave to stand for 15 minutes

In a large mixing bowl combine the flour, salt and grated cheese so that its evenly distributed

Pour in the yeast mixture then the melted butter

Knead for a few minutes then roll into a large soft ball

Cover with a damp tea towel or loose cling film and place in a warm place to rise to double its size (mine took an hour and a half in the airing cupboard which is why I haven't told you to preheat the oven yet!)

 

You can make the tomato sauce now or in advance as I did.
In a saucepan heat the olive oil over a medium heat then add the onions and cook till soft
Stir in the garlic and thyme.  a few minutes later add the tomatoes and sugar and simmer for 45 minutes.
Season to taste then blend and allow to cool.  I found the sauce a little lacking in something that was rectified by a good squeeze of tomato ketchup.
For the meatballs on top I skinned three pork and sweet chilli sausages from Tesco and mixed the filling with some mild chilli powder and paprika.  When it comes to toppings the world is your oyster.  For the cheese I used Tesco pre-grated pizza cheese which is a blend of mozzarella and cheddar.  Their grated chilli cheese is also good if you want a bit of a kick.

Preheat the oven to 240C/475F/Gas 9

When the dough has risen slice it into two and press into the base of two buttered deep pans or cake tins preferably 20-25cm in diameter.  I used my new 20cm loose bottomed heavy cake tins from Sainsburys (£7 each).  I also found that there was too much dough so about a fifth of it got rolled out to make a flat pizza too.
Spread generously with the tomato sauce and add the cheese and toppings of your choice. 
Turn down the oven to 190C/375G/Gas 5 and put your pizzas in immediately.
Cook for 25-30 minutes till risen and golden brown.  Best to check after 20 minutes so they don't burn.  My youngest son liked the crust the best.  Here they are ready to go.