Chicago Style Deep Dish

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
1 large onion -- coarsely chopped
1/2 pound ground sirloin
1/2 pound ground pork
1 teaspoon whole fennel seed
3 each plum tomato
1 recipe Cornmeal Pizza Dough
1 pound mozzarella cheese
3/4 cup Romano cheese -- grated
1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil
16 ounces Hunt's Spaghetti Sauce
1/3 cup olive oil

Place the onion and meats in a medium sauté pan. Cook over medium heat until the meat is no longer pink and onion is cooked; blot up excess fat with a a paper towel. Add the fennel seed. Set aside to cool.

Skin and chop the tomatoes. Place in a sieve and drain for 10 minutes.

Twenty to thirty minutes before baking, place a pizza stone on the lower third rack of the oven and preheat it to 400 F.

Brush a 14-in deep-dish pizza pan with oil and press the pizza dough, making sure it is even on the bottom and up the sides to the rim; do not stretch. Let rest for 15 minutes.

Toss the mozzarella, Romano, and herbs together in a bowl. Sprinkle the dough with two-thirds of the cheese mixture. Then spread with the entire can of sauce and drizzle with some olive oil. Distribute the meat mixture over the top for the next layer. Top with the tomatoes and the remaining cheese mixture. Drizzle with the remaining olive oil.

Bake for 15 minutes, then lower the oven temperature to 350F, and bake for an additional 40 to 45 minutes. Cover with foil for the last 10 minutes if the cheese is too brown. When done, the crust will be golden brown; lift with a metal spatula to check the bottom. Remove the pizza from the oven and let it rest on a rack for 10 minutes before cutting.
Serve while still hot.