Deep Pan Pizza

This is a classic (comforting) deep dish pizza that you can easily make at home. The folding technique for the dough is much less labour intensive than kneading. You can get creative with toppings or keep it simple.

Active time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 4 -5 hours

Yield: 2 25cm pizzas

Hacks: Prepare the tomato sauce ahead of time. Use pre-grated mozzarella cheese.

For this recipe, you will need two 25cm cast iron dutch ovens or cast iron ovenproof skillets.

Dough
360g plain flour
1 tsp fine sea salt
3/4 tsp dried yeast
255g tepid water
1 1/2 tbs plus 2 tbs olive oil
2 cups mozzarella cheese, grated (overdoing the cheese can make your pizza soggy!)

Tomato Sauce
1/3 cup tomato passata
a pinch of kosher salt
1 desert spoon extra virgin olive oil

Place flour, salt, yeast, water and 1 tbs olive oil in a bowl.

Stir with the handle of a wooden spoon. Work in circular motion just like the dough hook on your cake mixer. You will end up with a shaggy looking mess within about 30 - 60 seconds. This is good. You want a minimal amount of dry flour visible in the bowl.

Scrape the sides of the bowl with a dough scraper and shape into a rough ball shape.

Cover the bowl with a plastic bag and leave to rest for 5 minutes.

Remove the bowl from the plastic bag and using a wet hand, fold the dough in half, top to bottom. Rotate the bowl 90 degrees and fold again. Rotate 90 degrees and fold again. Rotate the bowl 90 degrees and fold again.

Cover the bowl with the same plastic bag and leave to rest for 5 minutes.

Complete the folding and rotating as above three more times..

Cover the bowl with the same plastic bag and leave to rest for 40 minutes.

Place the covered bowl in the fridge and leave for at least 4 hours. You can leave it for up to 72 hours. The flavour of the dough will change depending on how long you leave it in the fridge. 4 hours works.

3 hours before you want to cook the pizza, remove the bowl from the fridge.

Pour the remaining 2 tbs olive oil into 2 25cm dutch ovens or other cast iron oven proof dishes and coat the bases and sides using your hands. Really rub the oil into the entire internal surface of the dutch oven. It is tempting to add more oil to the pan, but it is best not not, adding more than 1 tbs of oil to each dish can make the pizza base soggy.

Using a dough scraper, cut the dough in half and each half into one of the the dutch ovens, flip the dough to coat evenly with oil.

For each piece of dough, press the dough to the edges of the dutch oven.

Cover the dough and leave to rest for 15 minutes.

Press the dough to the edges of the the dutch oven again.

Using the tips of your fingers, press into the dough to dimple the surface.

Cover the dutch ovens and leave to rest for 2 hours.

Preheat the oven to 230 degrees celsius (fan-forced).

For each pizza, sprinkle about 3/4 of a cup of the mozarella cheese over the surface of the dough, spread the cheese carefully to conceal the dough completely. You should not be able to see any dough, you may need to add more cheese to achieve this aim. Make sure that there is plenty of cheese at the edge of the dutch oven, this is how you achieve a lovely caramelised crust.

Combine the passatta, salt and oil in a bowl and stir to combine.

Drop teaspoons of the tomato sauce on top of the cheese, making sure you leave gaps between your splodges of sauce.

Sprinkle the remaining cheese.

Place the dutch oven on the top shelf of the oven and cook for 15-18 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and the crust looks crisp. You will probably need to cook the pizzas separately unless you have a very tall oven or two ovens.

Using a sharp object, separate the edge of the pizza from the dutch oven.

Using 2 spatulas, lift the pizza out of the dutch oven and place on a cooling rack, leave to cool for 10 minutes.

While you are waiting, you can sprinkle some parmesan cheese and basil leaves over the pizza.

Cut into slices, and serve. This disappears quickly!

Try this with fontina, provolone, scamorza or even gouda cheese as a variation.

Try this topped with fried mushrooms and rocket, or char-grilled capsicum.

You can try this with pesto instead of or in addition to the tomato sauce.

Try this with onion, capsicum and mushroom collapsed for 3 minutes in the microwave and added to the pizza after the first 10 minutes of cooking.

Get inventive with different toppings, salami is a hit with meat eaters.