Deep Dish Cheeseburger Pizza

Back in the 80's when my dad had cancer, friends and neighbors would frequently bring food over to the house so my mom didn't have to worry about cooking. Across the street lived a wonderful lady who had a terrible little french bulldog named Choo-Choo. It used to be outside chained to a tree and when I would walk down the street to my friend's house to play barbies, Choo-Choo would growl and snort and try in vain to get loose so he could eat my face off.

True story. That wicked little 5 pound dog was planning to eat my face off. It scared me to death. Anyway, so one day she brings over this really good deep dish pizza that she had made for us. I never had it again after that...and I thought about that pizza for years. The crust literally melted in your mouth when you took a bite.

Fast forward almost three decades, and one day when I was surfing the Bisquick website, I found a recipe for deep dish pizza...and I rejoiced!  I had found my long lost recipe! I did have to make a little adjustment here and there, because if I made a 9x13 pan of this with just the two of us in the house, my husband might not sleep knowing there were leftovers just downstairs.

Speaking of hubby, when we were dating there was this amazing out of the way pizza parlor that we used to drive to and have one of the best pizzas I have ever had in my entire life. They used a yeast dough to make the crust, and I can't even...it just...ugh, it's just that good. There are so many yummy kinds of pizzas that they make, but we never could stop ordering the cheeseburger pizza because it is sooooo good.  So in homage to that pizza, I altered the recipe to my beloved deep dish and came up with a winner...at least in this household anyway.  ;-)

First things first: preheat your oven to 425°. Then we're going to start with a pound of ground beef, 1/2 of a large onion (leftover from last night's meatloaf recipe), and 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder. Toss all of that into a pan and cook until the beef is browned. Drain it and set it aside.

Now put 1.5 cups Bisquick and 6 tablespoons of water into a bowl, and stir with a fork until combined and it pulls away from the bowl. Lightly spray an 8x8 pan with cooking spray and put the dough in it. Now spray your hands with the cooking spray and gently press the dough over the bottom of the pan and up the sides.

The next part sounds kind of weird, especially in the form of a pizza, but trust me...it makes this whole recipe.  Combine 1/2 cup of ketchup and 1/3 cup of mustard, and stir that together really well. Try to ignore the fact that it looks like baby poop. Now pour that into the pizza shell and spread it to cover the bottom evenly.

Yeah I know...I spilled a little bit of the sauce on the side. I will admit that it bugs me aesthetically now that I see the picture, but not enough to Photoshop it out. I noticed it when making it, but didn't even care enough to wipe it off then. It's really not that big of a deal. Plus it's going to get covered up in a few minutes anyway.

Okay now take your drained ground beef and onions and spread it out on top of the sauce.  Here is where you would add the rest of the toppings that you would have on a cheeseburger: bacon, tomatoes, more onions...you get the idea. I would definitely not use lettuce, though. Just saying. The only thing I ever add to mine is chopped dill pickles, and a lot of them!

Yummmm...look at that. I'm already drooling.

Okay now cover that bad boy in as much mozzarella as you want. In true cheeseburger form, I always make sure to throw a slice or two of American cheese on top as well.  Feel free to mix that mozzerella with some shredded cheddar cheese as well.  Let it bake for 25 minutes, and you will wind up with something that looks like this:

And I wonder why there is none leftover. Pfft.