Deep Dish Stuffed Crust Hawaiian Pizza

A couple weeks ago, I saw this recipe for Deep Dish Cast Iron Pizza on A Beautiful Mess's blog. Needless to say, I immediately pinned that for later.

Well later came last night in the form of this Deep Dish Stuffed Crust Hawaiian Pizza. 

One of the greatest divides Joseph and I face is over pizza toppings, so when we order pizza, I never get to choose Hawaiian, which is my favorite. However, when we are working our way through large amounts of ham and provolone (wedding leftovers), Hawaiian pizza is just a sensible option.

So with the inspiration (and dough recipe) from A Beautiful Mess, some seasonings from my cabinet and my trusty cast iron skillet, I bring you this recipe.

Dough Ingredients:

• 1 package of active dry yeast (or 2 1/4 tsp.)
• Generous pinch of sugar
• 1 1/8 cup warm water
• 2 tables. olive oil
• 3 c. flour
• 1 1/4 tsp. salt

Pizza Ingredients:

• 1/2 can pizza sauce
• Provolone Cheese
• Ham 
• 1/2 Can Pineapples 
• Basil
• Oregano
• Garlic powder
• Crushed red pepper

To make dough:

In small bowl, mix together yeast, sugar and water, then set aside for 10 minutes. In a larger bowl, combine flour and salt. Then pour yeast mixture into flour, and add oil and salt. Knead by hand for about 6 minutes, and place dough in a lightly greased bowl, covered for an hour as it rises. Make sure to keep it in a relatively warm place (i.e. not the refrigerator).

Once dough has risen, roll it out or just press it into a lightly greased cast iron skillet. The dough should come up all the way to the edge of the pan to make the crust. 

To make the pizza stuffed crust, I rolled slices of cheese, placed in the edge of the pan and folded the dough over it. (A Beautiful Mess used string cheese, which is brilliant, but I just didn't have any).

The pizza:

This part is a little harder for me to duplicate for this blog explanation. I don't actually use measurements very often, but when I suspect I might blog about something I try and make it a point. Not this time, faithful blog readers. 

Pour a decent amount of olive oil on the base of the crust. Then just be very generous, sprinkling Oregano, Basil, Black Pepper, Red Pepper and Garlic Powder on the crust. 

Then, cover that amazing spice mixture with red sauce, cheese, ham and pineapple. Heat on the stovetop for about three minutes, then stick in the oven and bake at 375 for about 20-25 minutes.

The result?

A REALLY thick pizza. It was delicious, though, and I recommend it make it's way to your kitchen very soon.

Happy Pizza-ing!

—Holli Anne