Deep Pan Cheesy Stuffed Crust Texas Pizza

Nearly everyone likes Pizza, but there's a big difference in the quality of a frozen pizza from the supermarket in comparison to a fresh home baked pizza with fresh toppings and a cheesy stuffed crust. To make a really good pizza you need a really good and tasty bread base and an even tastier tomato-based sauce plus good mozzarella cheese.

In this instructable I will show you how you can bake your own fresh deep pan cheesy stuffed crust pizza in the same time it takes to buy and cook a not-so-tasty frozen pizza, about 35 mins.

Sure there are a multitude of recipes for bread bases, but I use a simple one which comes from a bread baker's recipe. The first time you make this it may take you a bit longer, but then the next time you should be faster...

Ingredients for 2x 30cm/12" Bread Bases:

500g Strong White Flour plus a little extra flour for dusting

10g Salt

300ml Warm Water

1 Sachet (7g) Dried Yeast

1 Teaspoon Sugar

2+1 Tablespoons of Olive Oil

A 30cm/12" round deep pan baking tin (see images)

A measuring jug

An electric whisk with dough hook attachment (see image)

Method:

1. Put the flour in a large bowl and mix in the salt.

2. Fill the measuring jug to the 300ml mark with warm (not hot!) water. You should be able to put your finger in it without it feeling hot, just experiment, but remember that if it is too cold or too hot your bread will not come out like it should. Add the teaspoon of sugar to the water and mix with the spoon until it dissolves. Add the dried yeast from the sachet and mix it into the water with the spoon. Let the yeast mixture rest for a minute.

3. Make a well in the middle of the flour in the bowl and pour in the yeast mixture. Add the glug (about 2 tablespoons) of Olive Oil then mix well with the electric whisk and dough hook until a dough forms and all of the flour is incorporated into the dough.

4. Take the dough out of the bowl with clean hands and put it on a clean, dry surface. Dust the surface and the dough with a little extra flour in your fingers. Now knead the dough well for about 5-10 mins. How to knead your dough? Easy, just push it and squeeze it all over, turning it around and around. As long as you push and squeeze it firmly you'll be fine, but don't destroy it or make holes in it.

5.Now cut the dough in half. You should have two pieces of the same size and weight.

6. Put one piece back in the bowl for a second pizza base later. Take the other piece and roll it out to a round shape which is a bit bigger than the diameter of your baking tin. Don't worry about perfection, that will come with time and practice.

7. Use 1 tablespoon of Olive Oil to grease your baking tin all over the inside. This will help to give the bottom of your pizza a very nice texture.

8. Place the rolled out dough carefully into the baking tin without getting any holes in it. If necessary, move and shape the dough so it fits the tin evenly with an overlap around the whole edge. The overlap is important because it will be the stuffed crust...

Ingredients:

Grated Mozzarella Cheese - about 50-100g depending on your own preference

1. Take some grated Mozzarella cheese in your fingers and place it under the overlap of your dough in the baking tin from the previous steps. See the image if you're not sure how this should look like.

2. When you've placed cheese under the overlapping dough all around the edge, carefully fold the overlap over the cheese and press it into the main dough base until it is completely sealed all around (see image). The more cheese you add the more stuffed it will be (and the more cheese you need of course).

3. If necessary tidy up the stuffed dough a little bit so that it looks even.

4. Now set this aside and see the next step for the sauce.

Ingredients:

3+2 Tablespoons of Barbecue Sauce ( I use Heinz in a squeezy bottle, but you can use your own favorite barbecue sauce)

150g Pureed Tomatoes

Pinch of Salt and Ground Black Pepper

1 Teaspoon Sugar

1 Tablespoon of Olive Oil

1+1 Teaspoons Dried Oregano

125g Bacon Cubes or Lardons

200g Grated Mozzarella Cheese

Method:

Turn on your oven and pre-heat it to 220°C.

1. Fry the bacon cubes or lardons in a frying pan on a medium heat until lightly cooked through. Don't over cook them as they will also get cooked in the oven later. Drain any excess fat or oil from the bacon and set the bacon aside for later.

2. Put 3 tbsp Barbecue sauce, the tomatoes, olive oil, dried oregano, sugar and salt & pepper in a small bowl and mix well with a small whisk or a fork.

3. Put the other 2 tbsp of barbecue sauce in the middle of the pizza dough and spread it around the whole base with the back of a tablespoon or a small ladle.

4. Using a small ladle or large spoon, put some of the tomato sauce on the pizza base and spread it all over the inside of the base but not on the stuffed crust.

5. Sprinkle the cooked bacon cubes evenly over the saucy pizza base.

6. Sprinkle the grated mozzarella cheese all over the pizza base but not on the crust.

7. Sprinkle the other tspn of dried oregano over the cheesy pizza.

Put the pizza into the pre-heated oven and bake it there for 9-10 mins. After 9-10 mins have a look at it and see if the cheese has all melted and turned a golden brown colour.

If you're satisfied with how the pizza looks in the oven take it out and let it cool down for some minutes before eating.

Thats it, you're done! Congratulations!

Enjoy your fresh deep pan cheesy stuffed crust texas pizza!

:-)