Ingredients:Preparation:Prepare the
pizza dough as directed.
When the dough has doubled in size, punch it down and let it rest for 5 to 10 minutes. Divide th dough in half for thick crusts or in thirds for normal crusts. Press dough into bottom of lightly oiled (extra virgin olive oil is best) 12-inch dutch ovens. Spoon pizza sauce onto the dough and spread evenly. Add a generous amount of pizza toppings and top each pizza with 1/2lb to 1lb of mozzarella cheese. Sprinkle top of pizza with Italian seasoning mix or pizza seasoning mix.
Cover and bake with 10-12 briquettes bottom heat and 20-25 briquettes top heat for 10-15 minutes or until crust is golden and cheese is melted and bubbly. Remove the pizza from the oven before cutting to avoid damage to the oven.
Makes 2-3 12-inch pizzas.
Variation - Double Crust Deep Dish Stuffed Pizza:Prepare the
pizza dough as directed.
When the dough has doubled in size, punch it down and let it rest for 5-10 minutes. Divide the dough - a little less than 2/3 of the dough for the bottom crust and the remaining dough for the top crust.
Press the dough for the bottom crust into the bottom and couple of inches up the sides of a regular 12-inch dutch oven.
Spoon 1/2 cup of pizza sauce onto the dough and spread evenly.
Add the vegetable-type toppings (onions, peppers, tomatoes, mushrooms, etc.) on top of the sauce.
Put a very generous amount of meat-type toppings (salami, pepperoni, Italian sausage, Canadian bacon, etc.) on top of the vegetable-type toppings.
Top with a full pound of grated Italian cheeses (Mozzarella, Provolone, Asiago, Romano, Parmesan, etc).
Sprinkle with 1 tsp of Italian seasoning mix or pizza seasoning mix.
Roll the dough for the top crust out until it is about 15-16 inches in diameter.
Lay the crust over the top of the pizza, pressing it into the bottom crust that is lining the sides of the oven.
Cut 4 to 6 vent holes in the top crust. Sprinkle with a half cup of cheese and another 1/2 tsp of Italian seasoning mix or pizza seasoning mix.
Cover and bake with 14-16 briquettes bottom heat and 18-20 briquettes top heat for 45-60 minutes or until the top crust is golden and the cheese inside the pizza pie is melted and bubbly. Rotate the oven and lid 90 degrees in opposite directions every 10-15 minutes.
Let the pizza rest in the oven for 10 minutes. Use a spatula to loosen any baked-on cheese around the edges of the pizza. Tip the dutch oven and use a spatula to slide the pizza out of the oven onto a cutting board.
Slice into wedges, and serve immediately.
Makes 1 very large 12-inch stuffed pizza.
