Deep dish pizza

Chicago absolutely holds the patent for the best deep dish pizza I have ever experienced. I don't know how they do it, but this is my attempt to capture just a fraction of that glorious baked Chicagoan goodness.

What you'll need:

• Two refrigerated pie crusts
• 1 can of whole plum tomatoes
• 1 lb of bulk Italian sausage
• Sliced provolone or mozzarella cheese
• Grated romano or parmesan cheese
• Fresh or dried herbs: basil, oregano, Italian parsley
• Salt and pepper

You need to let the tomatoes drain. Pour them into a colander, and open the tomatoes, so they can lay flat on the pizza. I also pull out the stem. Just do this carefully, so the little buggers don't spit their juice at you.

Let the pie crusts sit out for 10-15 minutes to soften. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. I have a 10" cake pan, but you can certainly use whatever size you've got. The pie crusts are for a 9" pan, so I need to roll the 2 crusts together to make them a little bigger than the pan. If you're using a 9" cake pan, you can just place the 2 crusts on top of each other directly in the pan.

Place the pie crust in the pan and fold over the edges to make a crust. You can take the time to make the edges pretty, but I prefer a more unkempt look to mine. Grate some cheese over the crust - I like to use Locatelli. Then you can layer with sliced cheese. I'm using provolone, but mozzarella would work just as well.

The next layer is bulk Italian sausage - hot or mild or a combination of both. If you have links, slice open the casings and press into the pan to cover the whole pizza.

The next layer is the tomatoes. Make sure they have drained. I also pat them with a paper towel to get any excess moisture off of them. Lay them out on top of the sausage to cover the entire area. Season with kosher or sea salt and freshly ground pepper. Add a sprinkle of sugar if the tomatoes are too acidic.

At this point, you can add any number of toppings: mushrooms, onions, peppers, olives, etc. I'm keeping it simple this time, adding only some fresh oregano and grated cheese.

This needs to bake 50-60 minutes. When you take it out of the oven, let it sit for at least 10 minutes. There will be some juices around the crust from the sausage that will reabsorb a bit as it sits.

This is as close as I can get it. If anyone has any other suggestions or inside information as to how to make an authentic Chicago-style deep dish pizza, please share. In the meantime, I'm happy with the baked goodness that is my deep dish pizza.