Deep Pan Pizza – Detroit Style

This Deep Pan Pizza – Detroit Style is so easy to make. Detroit Pizza, or Detroit Style Pizza, traditionally uses Wisconsin Brick Cheese or Mozzarella, but my version deviates slightly, employing a combination of Mozzarella and Cheddar cheese.

This pizza boasts a thick, soft, and chewy crust with a crisp edge. In this style of pizza, cheese is placed on the dough before the sauce is added on top. After researching various videos and recipes for this type of pizza, I observed several methods for achieving this. The most common approach appears to involve laying tomato-based sauce in two or three stripes along the length of the pizza, which is the style my recipe follows.

As mentioned, the recipe is quite simple. Prepare the dough and allow it to rise in a large pan. Create a rich tomato sauce and grate some cheese. Preheat the oven, cover the dough with cheese, spoon or pipe the sauce on top, and bake the pizza. Though it is very easy to make as it involves a yeasted dough the process takes some time. The dough should be allowed to nearly triple in size before applying the toppings.

Process for Deep Pan Pizza – Detroit Style

The dough is simple to make, and it’s advisable to use a stand mixer if available. Mix all the ingredients, except the salt, into a shaggy dough. Let it rest briefly, then add the salt. Knead the dough until it becomes soft and fairly smooth. The dough will remain somewhat sticky. After a brief knead into a ball, place the dough in a prepared pan, spreading it over the base. Proof the dough in the pan until it triples in size, and then it’s ready for the toppings.

Simple Ingredients

To keep it as straightforward as possible, my topping includes dried herbs such as oregano and basil, along with garlic granules. It also uses canned crushed tomatoes, white pepper, salt, and olive oil. Mozzarella and Cheddar cheeses work well for the topping, but any cheese that melts nicely under heat will suffice. Using Cheddar in combination with Mozzarella enhances the cheesy flavour.

My Pizza

I baked my deep pan pizza at a very high temperature for 15 minutes (260°C/240°C Fan/500°F) to achieve a nicely crisped edge, a firm base, soft and chewy dough, and well-cooked toppings with browned cheese.

After letting the pizza sit in the pan for about 5 minutes, it cooled enough to transfer to a rack. Then I sliced it for tasting, and it turned out wonderful. The combination of a crisp crust, a chewy base, and a perfectly balanced cheese and tomato topping made this deep pan pizza a triumph.

Another lovely savoury recipe is Crustless Quiche – Quick & Easy.

Deep Pan Pizza – Detroit Style

Recipe by geoffcooCourse: Bread, Pies, TartsCuisine: USADifficulty: Medium

Servings

4

servings

Prep time

30

minutes

Cooking time

40

minutes

Calories

300

kcal

Ingredients

• Dough

• 319g(2 cups+2 tbsp, based on scooping packed flour into a 250ml cup) bread flour

• 6g(1 1/2 tsp) caster sugar

• 5g(1 1/2 tsp) instant yeast

• 240ml(1 cup) warm water

• 4.5g(3/4 tsp) salt

• 15ml(1 tbsp) olive oil, for the pan

• Topping

• 227g(2 cups) grated mozzarella cheese

• 113g(1 cup) grated Cheddar cheese

• 380g(1 1/2 cups) crushed tomatoes

• 2g(2 tsp) dried basil

• .5g(1/2 tsp) dried oregano

• .5g(1/2 tsp) white pepper

• pinch of salt

• 6g(2 tsp) garlic granules

• 15ml(1 tbsp) olive oil

Directions

• Grease a 13 x 9 (32 x 23cm) roasting pan.
• Pour in the olive oil and brush it over the base and around the edge.
• Place the water, sugar and instant yeast into the bowl of a stand mixer, and mix until combined.
• With the mixer on a low speed gradually add all of the flour until everything comes together into a shaggy dough.
• Cover the bowl and rest the shaggy dough for 10 minutes.
• Add the salt and mix until it is combined.
• Knead the dough for about 10 minutes, until it has become soft and quite smooth. It will still be sticky.
• Tip the dough onto a floured surface and put some more flour on the top, then knead briefly forming the dough into a ball.
• Place the dough into the prepared pan and press it down then cover with plastic wrap and leave to rest for 15 minutes or so.
• Press the dough out to cover the base of the pan.
• Cover the pan with plastic wrap and leave it in a warm place until the dough has just about tripled in size.
• Preheat the oven to 260C/240C Fan/500F.
• Stir the oregano, basil, salt, pepper, garlic granules and oilive oil into the crushed tomatoes and set aside.
• Arrange the mozzarella and then the cheddar over the top of the dough, covering it completely.
• Spoon, or pipe, the tomato sauce into three stripes over the cheeses, so there are 4 stripes of cheese showing with the 3 tomato stripes.
• Bake the pizza for 15 minutes.
• Remove the pizza from the oven and leave it in the pan for at least 5 minutes.
• Run a knife or spatula around the edge of the pizza to make sure the crust is released.
• Carefull transfer the pizza to a wire rack and cut into 12 good sized portions.