There is always a debate with between pizza fans on their favorite style of pizza, Neapolitan New York Style (Thin) vs. Chicago Style (Deep Dish). They are both delicious and deserve to be eaten. Today I am going to be making the Chicago Style Deep Dish Pizza from a recipe Leigh received from one of her Cascade Living readers, Rachel Kegley. Rachel and her family recently relocated from Chicago to Grand Rapids, and she got the recipe from Cooks Illustrated – America’s Test Kitchen 2011 Edition. Leigh and I also lived in Chicago for many years and can attest that this pizza nails the true Chicago Style Pizza that we remember.
So, let get started…
Ingredients:
DOUGH
3 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
½ cup yellow cornmeal
2 ¼ teaspoons instant or rapid rise yeast
2 teaspoons sugar
1 ½ teaspoons salt
1 ¼ cups water, room temp
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, plus 4 tablespoons, softened
1 teaspoon plus 4 tablespoons olive oil
SAUCE
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
¼ cup grated onion, use the large holes of a box grater
¼ teaspoon dried oregano
Salt & pepper
2 garlic cloves minced
1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes
¼ teaspoon sugar
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
TOPPINGS
1 lb mozz, shredded (4 cups)
¼ cup grated parmesan cheese
OPTIONAL: 1 lb hot Italian sausage
Preparation & Cooking:
- Dough Phase 1:
- Using a stand mixer fitted with dough hood, mix together flour, cornmeal, yeast, sugar and salt on low speed until combined, about 1 minute.
- Add water and melted butter and mix until fully combined, about 1 to 2 minutes, scraping down the bowl as needed. Increase speed to medium and knead until dough is glossy and smooth and pulls away from the sides of bowl, 4-5 minutes. (Dough will only pull away from sides while the mixer is on. When mixer is off, the dough will fall back to sides.) Handle the dough with slightly oiled hands to prevent sticking
- Using fingers, coat large bowl with 1 teaspoon of olive oil, rubbing excess oil from fingers onto blade of rubber spatula. Using oiled spatula, transfer dough to prepared bowl, turning once to oil top. Cover bowl tightly with plastic wrap. Let dough rise at room temperature until nearly doubled in size, 45 mins to an hour.
- Sauce:
- While dough rises, melt butter in medium saucepan over medium heat. Add onion, oregano, and ½ teaspoon salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is softened and slightly browned, about 5 minutes.
- Stir in garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in tomatoes and sugar, bring to simmer, and cook until the sauce has reduced to 2 ½ cups, 25 to 30 minutes.
- Off heat, stir in basil and oil, then season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Dough Phase 2:
- Laminating the Dough: This process makes the dough incredibly tasty and shouldn’t be skipped. Using rubber spatula, turn dough out onto dry, clean counter and roll into 15 by 12-inch rectangle with short side facing you. Spread softened butter over surface of dough using offset spatula, leaving ½ inch border along edges. Starting at short end, roll dough into tight cylinder. With seam side down, flatten cylinder into 18 by 4-inch rectangle. Cut rectangle into half crosswise. Working with 1 half at a time, fold dough into thirds like business letter, then pinch seams together to form ball. Return dough balls to oiled bowl, cover tightly with plastic, and let rise in refrigerator until nearly doubled in size, 40 to 50 minutes.
- Pre-Heat Oven:
- Adjust oven rack to lowest position and heat oven to 425 degrees.
- Dough Phase 3:
- Coat two 9-inch round cake pants with 2 tablespoons olive oil each. It sounds like a lot of olive oil, but just do it!
- Dough Final Phase:
- Transfer 1 dough ball to clean counter and roll into 13-inch disk about ¼ inch thick.
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- Transfer dough round to cake pan by rolling dough loosely around rolling pin, then unrolling dough into pan. Lightly press dough into pan, working it into corners and 1-inch up sides. If dough resists stretching, let it relax 5 minutes before trying again. Repeat with remaining dough ball.
- Topping/Filling:
- For each pizza, sprinkle 2 cups of mozzarella evenly over surface of dough. If adding sausage, sprinkle ½ lb over the top of mozzarella on each pizza.
- I recommend the sausage, I used a Sweet Italian, you could also use Hot Italian to spice it up a bit!
- For each pizza, sprinkle 2 cups of mozzarella evenly over surface of dough. If adding sausage, sprinkle ½ lb over the top of mozzarella on each pizza.
- Spread 1 ¼ cups of tomato sauce over cheese and sausage and sprinkle 2 tablespoons of Parmesan over sauce for each pizza.
- Baking:
- Bake until crust is golden brown, 20 to 30 minutes. Remove pizzas from oven and let rest for 10 minutes before slicing and serving.
Slice it up and dig in to a truly authentic tasting Chicago Style Deep Dish Pizza!