Pizza Night has a special place in my world and is quite significant to me. It was one of the first things we incorporated on our journey of cleaner eating. It is exciting that our friends and family have embraced it and want to make it better and better each month. The level of food quality and variety has been quite spectacular. Each month we are treated to new ideas and ingredients. Fresh, seasonal and processed free ingredients always made from scratch make Pizza Night truly special.
Each time we host Pizza Night we are challenged to come up with new combinations and ideas for making an amazing pizza. We aren't alone in this...everyone in our group puts time and effort into making each month a true culinary adventure.
Hubs decided this month he wanted to take on a deep dish style pizza. He searched for recipes for deep dish dough that sounded enticing. After doing his research he decided to give this recipe a try.
http://carnaldish.com/recipes/pizza/homemadechicago-style-deep-dish-pizza/#.Uvf3hyhLrTR
He stuck with his own sauce recipe and topping ideas. He has pretty much perfected a really delicious pizza sauce. Sorry I can't pass it along. It's a little different each time he makes it and the recipe is somewhere in the recesses of his brain. It hasn't made its way onto a piece of paper yet.
Usually we make several thin crust pizzas to feed the masses. This time we decided we would only make 4 large pizzas because of the thick and filling crust and the amount of sauce and add-ons required to fill up a deep dish pizza. We went with two meat pizzas and two vegetarian pizzas. Oh, he also made to adorable little mini pizzas for the Sprouts.
It was cool he used our cast iron cookware for the pizzas.
This dough was everything the recipe touted. It was very buttery and flaky and really held up to the sauce and toppings.
Using the cast iron skillets was perfect. Functional and fun!
Yes, that IS pepperoni. Of course it is nitrate free and dry cured. Still...the verdict is still not clear on the authenticity of what all that really means. I'm a bit confused on it as well and don't really promote much in the way of pepperoni and cured meats. But...It IS pizza night and pepperoni is part of the menu! (according to the guy making the amazing pizza dough)...
Okay...these are gorgeous! Right?!? But seriously...you can only eat 1 piece (I might be lying...I might have eaten 2). This crust kept all the yumminess inside the pizza. It was sturdy yet light and flaky.
Another bonus...Hubs and I both think the next day leftovers were equally as good as the night they were baked. This crust did not get soggy or fall apart. The cook also made a big ole green salad with all kinds of veggies. Tomatoes and peppers and peas and onions and more. He put together a really great dressing with olive oil and a locally made honey vinegar! Ahhh...pizza night.
I seriously think everyone needs to start their own pizza night group! Besides all the social benefits and fun... we have all grown as cooks! Just do it! It just keeps getting better and better and I hope we are still on track in another 5 years!
(Hubs thin crust pizza recipe is highlighted in an early blog post)
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