Illinois ~ Chicago-Style Pan Pizza

So I always thought pan pizza meant a ton of crust (yuck!).  Turns out it means a ton of toppings!  Greg said this recipe is in his top 10, which as I've stated before, means nothing.  He probably has 50 recipes in his top 10.  ;-)

Chicago-Style Pan Pizza

1 lb loaf frozen bread dough, thawed (or homemade)
Cornmeal (optional - we omitted)
1 lb bulk Italian sausage
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
8 oz sliced fresh mushrooms
1 small onion, chopped
2 tsp olive oil
1 (14 oz) can diced petit tomatoes
3/4 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp fennel seed (we omitted)
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Mix tomatoes with oregano, salt, fennel seed, and garlic powder.  Let sit on the counter an hour to allow flavors to meld.

Preheat oven to 350. Grease a 9x13.  Dust with cornmeal, if desired.  Press dough into bottom and up sides of baking dish.  Sounds simple, but I worked and worked on stretching it out and still couldn't get it to go very far up the sides.  I finally gave up with a pretty shallow crust and cooked it 15 minutes.  Afterwards, we tried spreading the bread a bit more and pressing it down.  It looked ghastly.  I thought at this point the recipe would be a total flop.  The dough was very uneven and looked way too thick.  Do not despair; it still turned out wonderful.

Meanwhile, crumble sausage into large skillet over med-high heat. Cook and stir until evenly browned. Remove sausage with a slotted spoon, and sprinkle over crust. Sprinkle mozzarella cheese over sausage.

Add mushrooms and onion to skillet; cook and stir until onion is tender. Stir in tomato mixture; cook until liquid is reduced quite a bit.  Don't worry about some liquid making the dough soggy.  Layering the ingredients like this will keep that from happening.  Spoon tomato mixture over mozzarella cheese. Sprinkle Parmesan on top.  We used Parmesan that was already grated, although reviewers said it's way better if you grate it yourself.

Bake 20 minutes or until crust is golden brown.