Do you have a favorite childhood dish your mom used to make? Maybe there was a casserole or stew she used to make every Sunday, or a special dish you’d request every chance you got. (I’m thinking I might need to start a nostalgic recipes series!)

My husband grew up enjoying homemade pizza once a week. How lucky did I get that his mom made pizza a lot and not something like olive loaf? It’s a tradition he remembers fondly. While I don’t make homemade pizza once a week, it’s definitely a regular in my menu planning.

Recently, we discovered how much we LOVE to make deep dish pizza. There’s just something about a nice chewy pan crust topped with tons of ooey-gooey mozzarella cheese. My kids love that they can customize their “section” and love to “decorate” it by themselves. In addition to being a crowd-pleaser, it’s so easy to make and we always have leftovers.

I wanted to share my deep-dish crust recipe with you – as it’s just too good to keep to myself. Enjoy!

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Crust:

1 1/3 cup WARM (*not hot!) water

2 1/4 tsp. dry yeast (I use the fast-rising yeast that comes in a jar)

1 T sugar

1-2 tsp. salt or garlic salt (*Season according to your tastes. We prefer to use garlic salt for extra flavor.)

2 T olive oil

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Toppings:

1 jar pizza or marinara sauce (*Spaghetti sauce works just as well as pizza sauce. We use homemade canned sauce, but use whatever you have on hand.)

6 cups grated mozzarella cheese

Toppings of your choice (*My family likes regular pepperoni best, but I prefer ham with pineapple, lots of veggies & oregano!)

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To Prepare: 

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Add yeast, salt, and sugar to the warm water, and sit for 3-5 minutes – until the yeast starts to get nice and foamy. Add the oil and stir. Add the flour and mix until the dough begins to form. (*I do this entire process in my KitchenAid mixer, and it makes it SO easy. I even do all of the kneading in the mixer, but you can certainly do this the old-fashioned way!)

Knead the dough for several minutes, until it is smooth and elastic. Immediately divide into three balls.

Put several tablespoons of vegetable oil into 3 round cake pans. Roll the dough balls into three circles, and press into oiled cake pans. I place a large cereal bowl upside-down on each crust, allowing it to stay in place AND form a nice outer crust. Allow each crust to rise for at least an hour.

Top the risen crusts with sauce, cheese, and your favorite toppings and bake in a 475 degree oven for 10-15 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and the outer crust is a nice golden brown.

*We like to brush the outer crust with garlic butter (melted butter with a bit of garlic salt added) several times during baking.

Serve and enjoy!