Pizza Hut hasn't been the same since they introduced the pizza pie symphony called Priazzo in the 80s. We were Priazzo Roma fanatics -- think deep dish pie version of a Supreme pizza. It was soooooo good that you couldn't stop at just one slice but so filling that we could never finish the second piece in one sitting. My mind's been on Priazzo mode for the last couple months. Not knowing where to start, I joined the Bring Back the the Pizza Hut Priazzo Facebook page. There I found volumes of information from fans and former employees alike. Turns out the Priazzo required a special pan that helped the bottom crust cook evenly with the rest of the pizza.
What could I do to achieve similar results without investing in a special pan or sticking nails in a crust? Eureka! The pre-baked crust we made for cooked fruit and juice pies in cooking school should also work on a Priazzo. I only had one bag of blackeyed peas, but I made it work. Since the ingredients for the Roma weren't on sale, I used my q's to buy the ingredients for Priazzo Verona, the deep dish meatball pizza. All of the Verona ingredients were on sale except the meatballs. Luckily, my first Whole Coupon Inserts purchase netted me a $1 off Armour meatballs q from Publix that I stacked with a $.55 off manufacturer's q. I intended to use my favorite bread recipe for the dough but got lazy. Instead, I forced a couple of Pillsbury pizza crusts to submit to my dinner idea. It took a lot of corn meal, olive oil, poking, stretching to get it to relax but we were all very pleased with the results. Hope you like it too!
Homemade Priazzo Verona Recipe
- 2 Pillsbury pizza crusts
- corn meal
- olive oil
- Italian seasonings
- 2 Tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 small onion
- 1/2 cup sliced portobello mushrooms
- 1 jar + 1/4 cup pasta sauce (I used Bertolli's Pasta sauce for the filling and a Roasted Garlic pasta sauce to coat the top crust)
- 1/2 cup Lindsay Olives, chopped
- Italian Seasoning, minced Garlic to taste
- 1 bag Armour Turkey Meatballs
- 2 cups shredded cheese - we had a Mexican blend but I added Italian seasonings
After the crust came out of the oven, I removed the top pan and the beans and poked holes a second time. I brushed on a little olive oil and sprinkled more corn meal and Italian seasoning inside the bottom crust and baked it another 2-3 minutes.
I topped the bottom crust with a 1/4 cup of shredded cheese. I then filled the crust with my meatball sauce. and sprinkled about 1/2 of the remaining cheese on the meatballs. Topped it off with the rest of the second crust, which got its own set of poked holes cornmeal and olive oil. A think layer of sauce went down next and finally thecheese and Italian seasonings. I again double panned to protect the bottom crust. The pizza baked at 350 degrees for about 30-35 minutes. Next time I'll bake it a little longer.