Deep Dish on the Kettle w/pics

After talking to a friend last night about his upcoming trip to Chicago this weekend, I had some memories of my own about some really good pizza I got at Geno's East last time I was up there.... So tonight's dinner is dedicated to those memories of some fine pizza...



I use my bread machine to make dough for pizza crust...

1 1/4 cup lukewarm water
2 1/4 cup flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons olive oil
2 teaspoons active dry yeast

(follow your bread machine's instructions for putting these ingredients in and setting the machine for a dough cycle...)



After the dough was finished in the machine, I rolled it out into a floured bowl and let it rise for another 15 minutes or so...



I used my rolling pin to roll the dough out onto a floured surface...



I laid the dough across the top of my 10" cast iron skillet and used the rolling pint to cut it off across the top. I then formed it into the pan. I did not grease the pan or use corn meal and I did not put olive oil on either side of the crust...



I put a little cheese and sauce on the crust...



I cut the casings off two italian sausages and spred them out on top of the pizza sauce...



Added some cheese, pepperoni, and chopped onions....



Topped off with some more cheese and some julienned green peppers... I also shook on a little basil and oregano...



I set up the Weber kettle for some indirect cooking... I also put the pizza stone on and let it warm up with the kettle to about 450°...



Put the pizza on along with a small chunk of apple wood for a little smoke...



One of my friends stopped by for some pizza. He smelled it cooking and came to see what was going on...



40-45 minutes later this bad boy was ready to rumble... I just can't tell you how good this one tasted... the cheese I used was some simple 4-cheese italian blend I picked up in the grocery store and the sauce was actually a cheese sauce of some sort as well.... good stuff!

lfurl43142 said:

Do you think the Stone made a difference? Would that have worked just with the pan on the grill? I am anxious to give that a shot.

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Based on my past experiences, there needs to be something between the pizza pan and the heat source to keep from burning the crust. The pizza stone just helps have an even heat distribution across the bottom of the cast iron pan. The cast iron itself helps evenly distribute the heat, so feel free to give it a try!