Chicago-style Deep Dish Pizza

I love deep dish pizza. Why didn't I think to make it at home a long time ago? Definitely not perfect, but definitely delicious!! And so fun to make!
The Crust
The crust is more thin crust, cracker-like than most doughs. But very stable- I was impressed at how well it held up. I may have liked it more if I didnt mess it up! While I was waiting out the 2 hour rise I decided to make some brownies. I turned on the oven to preheat...and then realized I still had my dough in the oven rising. Oops!! Apparently I didnt kill the yeast altogether because while it was resting on the counter it did puff up a little. But I do wonder if it would have turned out differently had I not started to bake it before it's rising time was up!!

Heres what you need for 2 pizza pies:
2 cups flour
1/3 cup yellow corn meal
1 Tbsp sugar
1 1/4 tsp. salt
1 1/8 tsp. yeast
2 1/2 Tbsp. canola oil
3/4 cup lukewarm water

*Place the yeast in the warm water and let if sit for a few minutes to proof.
*Meanwhile combine the flour, cornmeal, sugar and salt in your mixer.
*Pour the oil and water/yeast mixture into the flour mixture and knead until smooth a few minutes, or when it starts to come together finish kneading it by hand until smooth.
*Place the smooth dough ball in an oiled bowl and turn to coat. Cover with plastic wrap and place in a warm spot to rise about 2 hours, or until doubled.

The Sauce
I really liked the flavor of the sauce. It was very similar to my usual sauce but with the added red wine vinegar. And it was so simple to whip up.

28 oz. crushed tomatoes (I used italian style)
3 garlic cloves, minced
a sprinkling of oregano, basil, pepper and salt
1 Tbsp. of red wine vinegar

*Mix all ingredients in a bowl

The Assembly

My pizza needed more filling and more cheese, but really quite an easy process. (Just be careful with ingredients that are "wet"- I almost thought mine was going to be soggy.)

*Generously butter two 8 or 9 inch cake pans.
*Divide your dough in half and roll each one out quite thin, about an inch bigger around than the pans. Place in pans and gently press into place. I blind baked my crust for 4 min. min. at 400 degrees, but not sure if that was necessary.
*Put a very generous amount of mozzarella cheese on top of the crust.
*Place all your toppings on next. (I then sprinkled some more mozzarella and some parmesan, but not enough)
*Pour half your sauce onto each pizza.
*Bake for about 35 min. Watch the crust and cover it loosely with foil if it starts to brown too fast.
*Let it sit for about 5 min. before gently taking them out of the pans and placing them on a cutting board to cut and serve.