What a fun and economical way to have yummy deep dish pizza!! Deep dish is one of our favorites, and while we have an Uno's Pizzeria and a Wholly Joe's that sell it, I'd rather make it at home if I can.
**This recipe makes 16 total mini pizzas. Using my recipe below, you can fill 9 cups with the sausage/veggie mixture and make cheese mini pizzas out of the remaining 7 cups.
**This recipe is spicy. If you are not a spicy food fan, sub out the ingredients for what you and your family would prefer. See below for some variations.
Ingredients
1 8-count roll of plain refrigerated biscuit dough
1/2 pound of bulk hot Italian sausage
2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/3 of a red pepper, seeds and insides removed, diced
1/3 of a green pepper, seeds and insides removed, diced
1 thick slice off of a red onion, diced
4-5 white mushrooms, cleaned, dried, stems removed, and diced
3 cups of spaghetti sauce
1-2 cup package of finely shredded part skim mozzarella cheese
non-stick olive oil cooking spray
About 20 minutes before you start preparing these pizzas, set the biscuit dough, in the packaging, out on the counter. This will help soften the dough a little so it is more pliable and easier to work with.
Preheat the oven to 400. Spray two muffin tins liberally with the non-stick olive oil cooking spray.
In a large skillet, brown the sausage over medium heat. Break into small pieces as it browns. Cook until it is no longer pink. Remove from skillet to a plate covered with a paper towel to sop up the excess grease.
Cut each biscuit in half. Roll the half into a ball, and then flatten between your hands. Press this into each muffin cup, making sure that it is evenly distributed all over the inside of the muffin cup and pressed up the sides. Once all of the dough is in the cups, go along with a fork and prick the bottoms a few times to help the dough to stay a little flatter when it bakes. Place in oven and bake until golden brown, about 8-10 minutes. Do not overbake, as they will burn in the next step. When done, remove from oven.
While the biscuit dough is baking, in another large skillet, heat the two Tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat. Add the red pepper, green pepper, and red onion to the hot oil and saute until softened. Add the mushrooms and saute another 5 minutes. Turn the heat down to low. Add the sausage to the vegetable mixture and combine well. Add about half of the spaghetti sauce to the sausage/veggie mixture and mix until all is well-coated.
Top 9 of the mini pizza crusts with the sausage/veggie mixture. It should nearly fill the muffin cup. Take the remaining spaghetti sauce and using a Tablespoon, top the 7 plain pizza crusts with a dollop of sauce. Use the remaining sauce to top the sausage/veggie pizzas. Top all 16 pizzas with the mozzarella cheese, the amount of cheese you use on each is to your preference.
Place back into the oven and allow to bake an additional 5-8 minutes or until the cheese is melted and beginning to look bubbly and browned slightly, like a pizza. Remove from the oven and serve immediately.
To serve, run a knife around the edges to loosen the pizzas. Lift each pizza out of the cups using a fork and place onto a plate or serving platter.
Excellent served with a tossed salad. Leftovers warm up great in the toaster oven for lunch the next day lunch!!
**Variations**
As we ate these, we talked about variations. Of course it was kid-tested and highly approved with two thumbs up as a plain pizza. I thought of some other ways...
Use shredded chicken mixed with BBQ sauce and topped with sharp cheddar cheese.
Use chicken or extra lean sirloin mixed with taco seasoning and top with your favorite taco toppings.
Leave out the sausage and just use the veggies, adding in more of your favorite veggie pizza toppings.
Use pepperoni instead of the sauage.
Use sweet Italian sausage instead of the hot Italian sausage.
Use anything you like on a pizza, be experimental, and have fun with it!!
