I love beets!: Stuffed Pizza

My favorite part about pizza is the crust, specifically the crust baked with tomato sauce and a sprinkling of Parmesan cheese. When I was little, my mom and I would go to this pizza place at Maui Mall, and I would proceed to rip off all the toppings and pile them on the side of my plate. After that place closed, Pizza Hut was my go-to pizza place. I know, I know...Pizza Hut? A little Hawaiian island isn't exactly bursting at the seams with pizza eateries. My mom didn't have her first slice of pizza until her 20's! I can't even imagine.

The thing I really like about Pizza Hut was the richness (read oil-laden) crust. I loved how it was crispy on the outside like a french fry, but soft on the inside. So you would think that it would be totally natural for someone with a pizza crust infatuation to gravitate towards Chicago pizza. I thought so, too! Until I triedone. In Chicago! I was at Uno's a notable pizza place in the city, and I found that Chicago pizza is really nothing like pizza at all. Sliced cheese? Provolone cheese? Sauce on top? I realize this may be pizza blasphemy, but it really wasn't for me.

I had pretty much sworn off all sort of Chicago style pizza until last weekend, when I was poking around the King Arthur website and I saw this recipe for Stuffed Pizza. I was quite dubious, but when I read that this pizza was in fact lidded...and then topped with sauce, I was completely sold. And even better, there was a plethora of commentors saying how it was not "authentic Chicago style pizza". Perfect!

The best part about the pizza was the assembly.