Smoked Sausage, Mushroom & Pesto Deep-Dish Pizza

One of my favourite food phenomena is watching pepperoni “cup”. As the edges cook faster, the fats melt away, gathering in the middle, while the edges curl up. Once they begin to curl, the edges cook even faster, exacerbating the curl effect. The edges go crispy while the centre is tender and meaty, and with each bite you get those little pools of flavourful oil. It’s just the most exciting thing.

I’ve used rookworst – a Dutch smoked sausage. Use your favourite pepperoni or smoked sausage here.

Because of this pizza’s rectangular shape, it’s easy to cut into small squares if you’re feeding a large crowd (no need to maneouvre around the toppings to cut skinny little triangles). If you prefer a thinner crust, simply bake in a larger dish and increase the toppings.

Plan ahead to allow time for kneading and proving; start the dough first thing in the morning and it’ll be ready for lunch. Whatever you do – make sure you enjoy this pizza while it’s piping hot, straight out of the oven! 

Smoked Sausage, Mushroom & Pesto Deep-Dish Pizza

Recipe by Olivia Moore

Servings

4

servings

Total time

5

hours 

10

minutes

Ingredients

• Dough

• 250g flour

• 1/2 tsp dry instant yeast

• 1/2 tsp sugar

• 1/2 tsp salt

• Toppings

• 1/4 cup basil pesto

• 75g white button or Swiss brown mushrooms, thinly sliced

• 50g cheddar, grated

• 100g smoked sausage, sliced into 5mm rounds (I used Rookworst)

• 3 sundried tomato halves, sliced

• 3-4 smoked olives, torn

Directions

• First, make the pizza dough. Stir yeast with sugar and 150ml warm water in a bowl to dissolve.
• Place flour into the bowl of a stand mixer with a dough hook. Turn the speed to medium-low and, with the mixer running, slowly pour in the water. Continue mixing for 15 minutes until smooth and elastic. Add salt and knead to combine.
• Lightly oil a large bowl and add the dough. Cover with a damp tea towel and leave to rise in a warm spot for 4 hours.
• Once risen, transfer to a clean work surface and briefly knead. Lightly grease a medium rectangular tray and add the dough. Gently stretch outwards to evenly cover the base. Cover with your damp tea towel and leave in a warm spot to rise for an additional 30 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 220°C.
• When the base has risen, spread pesto evenly over. Top with the sliced mushrooms, cheddar, sausage slices, sundried tomatoes and olives.
• Bake for 15 minutes, until nicely browned and the sausage is well cooked. Serve piping hot!