Deep Dish Pan Pizza

Deep Dish Pan Pizza is so easy to make. All you need are a  few basic ingredients. 1 loaf of frozen bread dough - thawed, 1 jar of your favorite pizza sauce ( I used Ragu), and Shredded Mozarella cheese. You can stop right here and you have all the makings for a delicious cheese pizza. But, we prefer our pizzas with a few more toppings. I added Pepperoni slices, some chopped vegetables (onion,  tomato,  black olives, green bell pepper) and a small can of sliced mushrooms.
Take your bread loaf out of the refrigerator and allow it to thaw and rise for a few hours. Our house stays a bit on the cool side so it took about 6 hours for the bread to thaw and rise.  When the bread dough is completely thawed and has doubled in size you are ready to build your pizza. Liberally oil you cast iron skillet. I use a 12 inch skillet. Place the bread in the oiled skillet and  using your hands flatten the risen bread loaf. You will  need to continue to press the bread dough into the shape of the skillet. Don't be afraid to really press as much of the air out as you can. As it cooks it will rise again. After you have pressed the dough around the pan it is time to add your toppings. This is the fun part. You can get creative and add anything you like. For this pizza we added about 3/4 cup of pizza sauce and spread it round. Don't add your toppings all the way to the edge. Leave about 1/2 of an inch for the crust. Then, we added as small layer of  mozzarella cheese. Next came the pepperoni, onions, bell pepper, tomatoes, mushrooms, and olives. Then, we added a bit more cheese. Bake the pizza in a preheated 375 degree oven for approximately 30 minutes. Check it after 20 minutes for desired doneness. The perfect doneness for us was 30 minutes. It was the best pizza. Much better than call out and deliver pizza and it was a fraction of the cost too.