Deep Dish Pizza

Chicago Deep Dish Pizza
Recipe make-over by Cooking Light

Ok, I really LOVE pizza. I think there was only one time in my life where I remember being sick of pizza. But thankfully, that hasn't happened recently. I'm typically not a deep-dish kind of person though. I'll eat it, but it's not my favorite style of pizza. I prefer the flat triangle type of pizza you get.

But perusing Cooking Light's website, I stumbled upon this recipe. It calls for homemade dough and you know I love a challenge. Especially since I had been on a kick my making my own bread and pizza dough. The only alteration to the recipe was that I left out the mushrooms (who likes to eat fungus anyway?) and used real sausage. So much for "cooking light".

Oh, my word. I LOVE this pizza. At first I wasn't sure if all the toppings were going to fill up the baking dish, resulting in a unfulfilled deep dish pizza. But they made it with a little bit of a crust at the top. I think what really makes this dish is letting the tomatoes drain with the dried herbs. It really gives it that extra flavor and punch to the "sauce." Love the spiciness of the sausage, mixed with the tanginess of the tomato and herbs, coupled with the crunch and sweetness of the bell peppers and the hint of cheese.

Great thing, you can make it a day or so ahead and just pop into the oven when ready. So good. And if you follow the recipe according to the website, it's probably a whole heck of a lot lighter than what you'll find at your pizza joint.

Delish!