Chicago-Style Deep Dish Sausage Pizza

To prepare the sauce:
In a large sauce pan, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds before adding the herbs, salt and peppers. Cook an additional 30 seconds. Next add the tomatoes, wine and sugar and bring the sauce to a boil. Once boiling, lower the heat to a simmer for 20-30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Once thickened, remove from the heat and let cool before using.

To assemble the deep dish pizza:
Preheat the oven to 475ºF. Use 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil to grease a 14” deep dish pizza pan. Sprinkle with the tablespoon of cornmeal. Next add your rolled out pizza crust dough to the pan, taking the edges of the dough up the sides of the pan. Next add the mozzarella cheese followed by the Italian sausage. Spoon out the sauce evenly over the pizza and spread it around the entire surface. Lastly, drizzle the remaining 2 teaspoons of olive oil over the sauce and sprinkle with the parmesan cheese.

Bake the pizza until the crust is a golden brown, about 30 minutes. Slice and serve hot.

(Sauce recipe adapted from Emeril Lagasse.)