DEEP DISH PIZZA INSPIRED BY THE DAILY SHOW

For the Tomato Sauce

Put canned whole San Marzano tomatoes into a bowl and crush by hand until the tomatoes are bite-sized pieces.

Finely chop white onion and smash and peel a few cloves of garlic. Into a high walled sauté plan, put olive oil and heat over medium until shimmering.

Once shimmering, add chopped onion and sweat for 2-3 minutes or until translucent around the edges, then add crushed garlic and sauté for an additional minute until fragrant. When fragrant, add a pinch of crushed red pepper flake, a shake of oregano, a shake of basil, and tomato paste. Cook together for one minute.

Add the crushed tomatoes along with sugar. Simmer for 20-30 minutes over medium heat, stirring regularly to prevent scorching, until the raw tomato flavor has cooked off and the sauce is thick. You know it’s thick enough when you drag a spoon through the sauce, it will part. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

For the Crust and Assembly

Into a stand mixer bowl, add active dry yeast and a teaspoon of sugar to room temperature water. Let bloom for 10 minutes until foamy. In a separate bowl, whisk together all-purpose flour, medium grind cornmeal, kosher salt, and cream of tartar. Pour dry ingredients into yeast mixture. Then add vegetable oil.

Using a dough hook, stir the mixture on low speed for 1-2 minutes until dough is off the side of the bowl. Then, put speed to medium for 7-8 minutes to knead until smooth and elastic. If the dough is too hydrated, lightly flour a cooking surface and knead by hand for an additional 1-2 minutes until consistency is soft and tacky, but not sticky.

Stretch dough into a ball and put it into a lightly oiled bowl, tossing to make sure it’s fully covered in oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and sit out at room temperature for 60-90 minutes, or until it has doubled in size.

Lubricate a 12-inch cast iron skillet with vegetable oil. Grease your hands and coax the dough out of the bowl and into the pan. Push into the shape of a pizza by stretching and pushing the dough up to the sides of the pan. Let rest under cover of plastic wrap for 20-30 minutes. While this rests, you can start your tomato sauce (see recipe above).

Press dough to sides of the pan, and it should easily hold its shape. Optional: Lay down a layer of raw mild Italian sausage into a nice even layer before the cheese.

Place a layer of deli-style sliced Provolone cheese on top next, then follow with a thick layer of low moisture mozzarella. More cheese = more cheese stretch!

Generously top cheese with tomato sauce until cheese is hidden. Then, sprinkle pre-grated parmesan on the sauce and drizzle olive oil on both the sauce and around the edge of the crust.

Put into 425°F oven for 25-35 minutes, rotating once during baking until cooked through. Run a thin spatula around the outside edge to make sure that there’s no sticking. Slide pizza out the pan and wait at least 10 minutes before cutting and serving pizza. Enjoy!