Deep Dish Pizza
Crust:
Approx. 2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 pkg. fast rising yeast
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. sugar
1 cup of very warm water
Filling:
1 package Healthy Choice brand shredded pizza cheese
2 cans whole tomatoes (plum would've been best, but I didn't have any)
A generous handfull of fresh basil leaves, chopped (dried is o.k.if it's
all you have)
Cracked black pepper, salt and oregano to taste
4 or 5 large cloves of fresh garlic, minced
1 very large onion, sliced thinly
2 10 oz. packages of frozen spinach, thawed
1 fresh tomato, thinly sliced
Directions
To make the crust, combine the yeast, salt, sugar, 1 cup of the flour and the cup of warm water. Mix thoroughly. Since you aren't proofing the yeast first, the water needs to be a bit hotter than usual. Add enough of the remaining 1 1/2 cups of flour to form a soft dough. Knead it for a few minutes, then put it back in the bowl, cover and set aside to rise.
In the meantime, prepare the veggies. Saute the onions in some red wine until caramelized. Squeeze the moisture out of the thawed spinach. Break up the tomatoes slightly and set them in a seive to drain. You don't want them soupy. Save the juice for something else.
When the pizza dough has more or less doubled in bulk (usually in less than an hour - I find you don't need to be too technical with pizza dough), punch it down. Lightly spray a 10 inch spring form pan with cooking spray.
Press the dough into the pan and up the sides. Spread the shredded cheese over the crust. Top with the tomatoes which have been mixed with the basil leaves. Season with the salt, oregano and black pepper. Sprinkle the minced garlic over the tomatoes, then the add the sauteed onions.
Top the onions with the spinach and then arrange the sliced tomato decoratively on top. Bake at 425 in the middle of the oven for about 45 minutes or so. Since it's so thick, it takes quite awhile for the filling to heat all the way through. It makes a lovely presentation when you remove the ring from the spring form pan.
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