Deep Dish Mushroom Onion Pizza

Do you have a pizza night at your house? I know lots of families do. Since The Kid has a dairy allergy, we have to be careful where we order our pizza from. No milk  in the crust, no cheese on it, but also no reusing the pizza pan or cutter. Thankfully there are a few places we can go to when the pizza craving hits.

For Christmas I got a gift card and I try to purchase things I wouldn’t usually get so I ended up with a bag of semolina flour. LOL, buy first and figure out what to do with it later. Since semolina flour is usually for pasta or pizza, the choices were fun. I decided to modify and whip up one of the recipes in a cookbook I have. I don’t just do my pizza halfway. When I go pizza, I go deep dish baby!

Great for Sundays, football game days, or just for fun. It took a little bit of time since you have to wait for the dough to rise, but you aren’t babysitting it. You just mix it and let it sit alone to do its thing. It’s a simple process actually and well worth the effort of waiting.

Deep Dish Mushroom Onion Pizza 

Crust Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 tsp active dry yeast
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• 3/4 cup warm water
• 1 3/4 cups (255g) all purpose flour
• 1/4 cup (30g) semolina flour OR all purpose flour
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 Tbsp (14g) olive oil

Filling Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups (150g) sliced yellow onion
• 2 tsp minced garlic
• 1/2 tsp dried oregano
• 8 oz sliced baby bella mushrooms
• 3/4 cup marinara sauce
• 1/4 cup (28g) shredded vegan or regular pepperjack cheese

Mix the yeast, sugar and warm water in a small bowl or measuring cup and sit aside for about 5 minutes. The yeast will activate and become foamy. Meanwhile measure the flour, semolina flour (if using), and salt and mix in a large bowl. Once the yeast is ready, add the olive oil and yeast mixture to the flours. Mix thoroughly with a fork until the dough begins to form a ball.

Place the dough ball onto a floured surface and knead by hand for a few minutes until stretchy. Spray the bowl with non-stick spray and return the dough to it. Cover and place in a warm area to rise for about 90 minutes.

Heat a skillet over medium heat and spray with non-stick spray. Add the onions and cook for 2 – 3 minutes until softened.  Add the garlic and sliced mushrooms and cook for another 5 minutes until the mushrooms are soft and most of the liquid has evaporated. Remove from heat.

Once the crust dough has risen, preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Spray a 10 inch springform pan with non-stick spray or line with foil. Place the dough onto a floured surface and press it into a 13 inch circle. I attempted to spin the dough like you see in pizza parlors. Yeah, just don’t bother. Just press it out with your hands and fingers. Carefully place the dough into the springform pan, with the crust going up the sides.

Spoon the mushroom and onion mixture into the crust. Evenly top with the marinara sauce and sprinkle on the cheese. Bake in the lower half of the oven for about 30 minutes until the crust is crispy and the cheese is melted. Remove from the oven and let it sit for about 5 minutes. Slice into 8 slices.

Makes 4 servings of 2 big slices each at approximately 347 calories – 11g protein, 65g carbs, and 5g fat.

Notes

• I used an organic tomato, mushroom, onion pasta sauce that I got from Aldi for this recipe. Any pasta sauce works so use what you have. Marinara, Prego, Ragu. and so on.
• I opted for Daiya’s pepperjack vegan shreds since I like the little bit of spice. You could go traditional for mozzarella and also use a dairy based cheese if you like.

I loved getting two massive deep dish slices for under 350 calories. Throw in a side salad and you’ve got an entire meal. On the cheap and within the diet. Can’t do that with take out or delivery. I even had plenty for cold leftovers the next day for breakfast. 🙂

This one turned out so well that I need to try a couple more pizza recipes. After all I still have leftover semolina flour to put to good use. Or maybe pasta next time…