I lived in Chicago for a couple of years and hands down one of my favorite places to eat was Lou Malnati’s. I loved it so much that when I moved back to California, my neighbor and friend, Aleida shipped me their pizza for my birthday. Recently, I found a slow cooker recipe for deep dish pizza on Pinterest. I was a tad skeptical and Ted was definitely questioning my judgment, but we tried it anyway.
Trader Joe’s makes an awesome fresh pizza dough, so I decided to use that. The original recipe calls for a sautéed onion and to simmer the crushed tomatoes. I omitted the onion and skipped heating up the tomatoes. It turned out to be spectacular! Sure, it still isn’t Lou Malnati’s but it definitely satisfied my craving for deep dish pizza without having to fly all the way to Chicago! Even better was that it all went into the slow cooker so I didn’t have to rush at dinner time and adding the parchment paper meant no mess!
- 1 pound homemade pizza dough (Trader Joe's works great!)
- 2 tablespoon cornmeal
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 28 ounce can crushed tomatoes
- 2 teaspoons dried Italian Seasoning
- 1 1/2 teaspoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups shredded italian blend cheese
- 1/2 pound italian pork sausage, cooked
- Garnishes: Parmesan cheese and chopped parsley
- This recipe works best in a large oval 6-8 quart slow cooker. Roll the pizza dough out onto a large piece of parchment paper. Make sure to roll and stretch to dough into an oval 2 inches longer and 2 inches wider than the crock of the slow cooker. Sprinkle with cornmeal and press into both sides of the crust. Then use the edges of the paper to lower the crust into the crock.
- Mix garlic powder, Italian Seasoning, salt, sugar, and crushed tomatoes.
- Meanwhile, cook the pork sausage in a separate skillet, breaking apart with a wooden spoon.
- Spread the cheese over the bottom of the pizza crust. Lift and stretch the sides of the dough so they stand up past the cheese. Sprinkle the crumbled sausage over the cheese. Then spread the tomato sauce over the sausage. Lift and stretch the sides of the crust again so it is above the edge of the sauce.
- Cover the slow cooker with a long piece of paper towel. Then place the lid over the paper towel and pull it tight. This helps catch excess moisture.
- Slow cook the pizza for 2-4 hours on high, or 4-6 hours on low. When you are ready to serve, lift the pizza out of the crock by the edges of the parchment paper and sprinkle the top with parmesan cheese and parsley. Cut into 4 pieces.
