Decided I wanted a good old fashioned Chicago style deep dish last night. Had some uncased bratwurst left in the freezer from last week, and since it's Chicago style, I figured that was fitting. Made a basic bread dough with the addition of double the recommended amount of vital wheat gluten, so it was perfect for pizza.
I started off with a 12" round pizza dough which fit perfectly in my 9" deep dish pan. (also known as a heavy duty round cake pan)
It came up the sides enough to allow for the top layer to be sealed on, while still allowing for a good outer crust. Onto the bottom crust I placed a 3/4" thick disc of the bratwurst covering the whole thing. Think giant hamburger patty. By the way, sorry I forgot to take pics during the assembly process. Then I added the top crust, basically a 9" round pizza placed on top and the edges crimped onto the edges of the lower crust. Then some sauce, pepperoni, cheese and mushrooms. Into a 475˚ oven (turned out to be too hot, outer crust ended up hard as a rock) for 45 minutes.
The result, other than the hard outer crust, was FANTASTIC, if I do say so myself.
In this pic you can see the layer of bratwurst. It was definitely a carnivore's delight! Yes, I had taken a bite before I thought to take a picture. This was actually this morning. Nothing like cold leftover pizza for breakfast.
Here you can see the outer crust which was way overdone. I think for next time I'll do it at 425˚ for the same amount of time.
I started off with a 12" round pizza dough which fit perfectly in my 9" deep dish pan. (also known as a heavy duty round cake pan)
It came up the sides enough to allow for the top layer to be sealed on, while still allowing for a good outer crust. Onto the bottom crust I placed a 3/4" thick disc of the bratwurst covering the whole thing. Think giant hamburger patty. By the way, sorry I forgot to take pics during the assembly process. Then I added the top crust, basically a 9" round pizza placed on top and the edges crimped onto the edges of the lower crust. Then some sauce, pepperoni, cheese and mushrooms. Into a 475˚ oven (turned out to be too hot, outer crust ended up hard as a rock) for 45 minutes.
The result, other than the hard outer crust, was FANTASTIC, if I do say so myself.
In this pic you can see the layer of bratwurst. It was definitely a carnivore's delight! Yes, I had taken a bite before I thought to take a picture. This was actually this morning. Nothing like cold leftover pizza for breakfast.
Here you can see the outer crust which was way overdone. I think for next time I'll do it at 425˚ for the same amount of time.