Kami’s Deep Dish Pizza

The following “Chew This!” column has been reprinted from “The Courier-Times”, Sunday, June 18th 2017 edition. By: Blaise Doubman 

Deep Dish Pizza – a Family Favorite
Blaise Doubman

I love a good deep dish pizza! I am not a fan of thin crust pizza or flatbreads. Give me a thick, delicious and tomato sauce slathered piece of deep dish pizza any day! My very favorite deep dish pizza comes from Giordano’s in Indianapolis. If you have not tried it, I highly recommend it! Now, when you go, be prepared to wait about 45 minutes for your pizza but trust me, the wait is well worth it! When I started developing recipes for my own deep dish pizza I wanted something simple, foolproof and flavorful. After testing several recipes I found a recipe for deep dish pizza from my Aunt, Kami Doubman. I was blown away! The recipe was simple and the techniques in letting the dough rise and rest were simple and straightforward. I made the recipe in several variations and discussed with her in length about the ingredients and process. The recipe below is the official result – and it is fabulous!

I love recipes that are passed down from one generation to the next and I love recipes that are easy and versatile. For this particular recipe feel free to use a good pizza sauce from a jar or even a good quality marinara sauce with your own herbs added. Go completely homemade with the pizza sauce if you want to by adding ½ cup chopped white onion and 2 tablespoons minced garlic in a skillet over medium heat until clear and tender. Next add in 2 tablespoons olive oil, a couple of cans of crushed tomatoes, a can of tomato sauce, a small can of tomato paste and a sprinkling of salt, black paper, oregano and basil. Simmer until thickened and ready to use – it really could not be any more simple – and so delicious! Shoutout and special thanks to my Aunt Kami for allowing me to share this recipe with everyone!

Kami’s Deep Dish Pizza

Top this pizza with anything you desire! My personal favorite topping with this pizza is pepperoni and sliced – not shredded – mozzarella cheese. When using sliced cheese it creates a “blanket” of cheese on top that using shredded cheese just does not match. Add hamburger, sausage, peppers, onions, olives or even pineapple. To help the dough rise in a warm location, turn your oven on 200 degrees F and place the bowl of dough near the oven.

1 cup white all-purpose flour
½ cup white granulated sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 package dry yeast
¾ cup whole milk
¼ cup water
4 tablespoons salted butter, melted
2 cups plus 2 tablespoons white all-purpose flour

Start by combining the white all-purpose flour, white granulated sugar, salt and dry yeast in a large bowl.

In a glass measuring cup combine the whole milk, water and salted butter. Microwave on high power for 2 minutes being sure not to overheat the mixture because it could kill the yeast. You want the liquid to be warm to the touch not too hot.

Add the warm liquid to the flour mixture and stir gently to combine.

Once combined, gently stir in 2 cups plus 2 tablespoons white all-purpose flour.

Combine, using clean dry hands, until the dough forms a ball that holds together.

Lay the dough out on a lightly floured surface and knead for 10 minutes. This can also be done using the kneading function on your kitchen stand mixer.

Once the 10 minutes is up, place the dough ball into a clean bowl and cover with a clean towel. Place in a warm area and allow to rest and rise for 90 minutes.

Punch down, knead a couple times, reshape and allow to rest and rise 60 additional minutes.

Remove dough from bowl and place in a lightly greased 9x-13-inch baking pan. Gently pat and coax the dough into the pan being sure to press down the dough without stretching it. If you stretch the dough it will return to exactly where it was before in the pan.

Once evenly distributed cover with pizza sauce, pepperoni, sliced cheese, etc.

Bake in preheated 375 degree F oven for 37 minutes.

Once baked, remove from oven and allow to cool slightly before serving.

Ask and Answer: Several people messaged me about my made from scratch strawberry pizza and wondered if you could substitute other fruit toppings in place of the strawberries. The answer is yes! Blueberries would be nice, pineapples and kiwi or even cherries. In replacing the fruit you would then want to make a glaze that would pair nicely with the substituted fruit. Unless you wanted to use the strawberry glaze with other types of fruit and that would be perfectly delicious as well. Hope this helps and thanks for asking!