The key to anyone's heart.... Pizza

This is my first blog so please bear with me.  I have been experimenting with pizza for years and have come up with some great recipes.  At home in St. Louis, thin crust pizza is king.  I, however, am a sucker for a deep dish any day of the week.  My better half, Jake, is also a deep dish pizza nut.  So, that being said, I went in search of making the ultimate deep dish pizza.  I have made regular deep dish as well as Chicago style deep dish.  Today I am talking about Chicago style deep dish.  The main difference is the order in which the ingredients go on the pizza.  A Chicago style pizza goes like this... dough, cheese, sausage, pepperoni (or any toppings you want) sauce, Parmesan and Romano cheeses.  The icing on the cake, if you will, is the crust.  Nothing beats a good crust.  This is how I make my Chicago style deep dish pizza.

Dough Recipe
1 package rapid rise dry yeast
1 cup warm water
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 TB olive oil
1/4 cup cornmeal
2 3/4 cups flour

In the bowl of a stand mixer, dissolve the yeast in the water.  Add the vegetable oil , olive oil, cornmeal and half of the flour.  Mix for 10 minutes.  Attach the dough hook and mix in the remaining flour.  Knead for 5 more minutes with the mixer.  I know this seems like a lot of mixing, but it will be well worth the wait!  I let the dough rise in my mixing bowl instead of transferring to a separate bowl, just make sure you rub a little bit of olive oil over the top of the dough to prevent the dough from forming a hard outer crust while rising.  Cover the top of the bowl with plastic wrap and place in a warm area to rise for 2 hours.  Take the dough out and punch it down, then cover the bowl again and continue to let the dough rise for another 2 hours.  While the dough is rising you can prepare the pizza sauce.

Pizza Sauce Recipe
1 Large can of San Marzano's whole tomatoes
1 tsp of crushed red pepper flakes
1 TB of Italian seasoning
2 tsp of salt
1/2 tsp of black pepper
2 TB of sugar

In a large bowl, crush the whole tomatoes with your hands.  Beware of the tomatoes!  They tend to squirt at you while doing this, so I wouldn't suggest wearing white while doing this.  After you have crushed the tomatoes, you need to place them in a colander to allow the excess liquid to drain. You definitely don't want a soggy pizza after all this hard work!
Once the tomatoes have drained, add the remaining ingredients.  I usually do this in advance so that all of the ingredients have time to get to know one another.

Okay, so now we are finally ready to start the assembly of the pizza...are you getting hungry yet?  You will need to bake this pizza in a deep pizza pan or in a cast iron skillet.  I personally prefer using a cast iron skillet, as the cast iron cooks the crust perfectly!

You will need to oil the pan before you put the dough into it to ensure you will be able to easily get the pizza out after it is finished baking.

Let the assembling begin!
Dough
Mozzarella Cheese
Sweet Italian Sausage (this is raw so you will have to spread it out over the cheese)
Pepperoni (or whatever toppings you prefer, let your imagination run wild!)
Pizza Sauce
Grated Parmesan and Romano Cheese

Bake at 475 degrees for about 35-40 minutes or until the cheese is golden and the crust is a light golden brown.  Let the pizza cool for about 15 minutes, resist the temptation to dive into it immediately....your mouth will thank you later on!