Copy Cat Creations: Stuffed Pizza

So this recipe has been a long time coming! Stuffed pizza- Giordanno's style: chewy, cheesy, saucy pizza. We've made this about 5 or 6 times now and have definitely perfected it to our liking. We found a crust recipe online that we follow pretty much exactly (original source). The rest is modified to our taste but you can do whatever you please. As most of you know, I'm a pretty plain pizza eater so cheese (and maybe some spinach) is about the extent of my adventurous-ness but Danny's been known to add some pepperoni or switch up the cheeses. Do whatever floats your boat...just know that the original cheese is not boring! This takes some time and preparation so plan ahead...the dough takes about 2-4 hours to rise and then you'll need some time to shred the cheese and roll out the dough, make the sauce, etc. The prep time after your dough has risen is probably about another hour, however you can do a lot of the prep while the dough is rising so it's easy to split it up. You'll also need a deep dish pizza pan...ours is a Chicago Metallic from Bed Bath and Beyond. Danny and I find that this is a super fun weekend recipe when we have all day to plan and prep for it. Even when we made this the first time there were no complaints- it's so good- and the recipe has only gotten better from there!

COPYCAT GIORDANO'S STUFFED PIZZA

What you need for the dough:

bout 6 cups of flour

1 tablespoon sea salt

4 ½ teaspoons instant yeast

3 teaspoons sugar

7 tablespoons Canola oil

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 cups warm water

To make the dough:

1. Pre-heat your oven to 200F. Mix flour, salt, yeast, and sugar in large, deep bowl with a wooden spoon.

2. Pour oil into flour mixture and mix well.

3. Add water in 1/2 cup increments and mix well with wooden spoon.

4. As you mix, a rough dough should start to form. At first it will be sticky in some places and completely flour in others. Once a semi-cohesive ball starts to form, dump the entire contents out onto a clean work surface.

5. Using your hands, create a big pile of the dough and any loose flour. Press down and fold in half. Keep pressing down and folding the dough in half, varying the direction in which you fold slightly each time.

6. Continue to knead dough until it becomes smooth, about six to ten minutes. If the dough sticks to your hands or the work surface after several minutes of kneading, add a tablespoon or two of flour. If there's lots of extra flour or the dough is too dry, splash a teaspoon or two of water over the dough and use your hands to incorporate the flour. Just add what is needed to make the dough even in all areas.

7. Once well kneaded and smooth, shape the dough into a large, flat disk. Fold in four sides of the disk to a point, flip it over, and shape the dough to form a ball. Lightly dust with flour.

8. Turn off the oven that you pre-heated earlier.

9. Lightly coat a large bowl with cooking spray or olive oil. (I just wash the same big, deep bowl that we started the dough in.) Place dough in bowl and cover with a kitchen towel (or plastic wrap).

10. Let rise for 2-4 hours (4 is better than 2) in the warm oven that you had on earlier (just be sure it is off- you don't want it to start cooking!)

In the meantime, you can start preparations for the rest of the pizza...

What you need for the sauce:

1 jar Ragu pasta sauce (we use the Parmesan Romano)

1 small can of tomato paste

1-2 T of granulated sugar

Cayenne pepper or Crushed red pepper to taste (optional)

To make the sauce:

1. In a small saucepan, mix together your sauce, paste, sugar and any additional seasonings.

2. Let simmer until thick and bubbling, about 15-20 minutes. Be patient with this, it really makes a difference once it's cooked for a while.

What you need for the rest of the pizza:

Cornmeal

3 Tablespoons butter (melted)

About 24oz of mozzarella cheese (I know it takes longer but I recommend buying the fresh, unshredded variety...it melts and tastes so much better than the stuff out of the bag!)

All of our freshly shredded cheese!

Putting the pizza together:

1. Preheat oven to 450 F.

2. Spread melted butter in the bottom of your deep dish pizza pan.

3. Sprinkle with cornmeal until coated.

4. Take your risen dough and punch it down to separate into two pieces. Make one piece slightly larger than the other (about 60-40 split).

5. Roll the larger piece of dough out with a rolling pin until it's slightly larger than your pan (about 16' in diameter).

7. Line your pan with the large piece and fill with cheese and toppings.

8. Roll out your second piece of dough the same size as the pan (about 14').

9. Place this on top of your filled pizza and pinch the sides together to form a crust. Cut a few slits in the top piece of dough to allow it to air out.