My Kind of Pizza (Chicago Deep Dish!)

25 Jul 07 | by Lorraine in: Baking, Cooking, Food, Recipes, Super Sarap

Blame it on this video on YouTube. For weeks now, and all throughout my short bout with the flu, I’ve been craving authentic Chicago Deep Dish Pizza. Because I don’t know where to get it here in the lovely suburbs, I decided to do it myself.

I used this recipe I found online. Please note that I halved this recipe, since we’re- um- not a family of seven.

The crust was way too thick at the bottom- completely my fault- but my husband liked it anyway. Next time, I’ll use less crust, and pre-cook it before filling it. See the recipe after the jump.

Chicago Deep Dish Pizza

Ingredients:
CRUST:
2 18″ deep dish pizza pans *note: I used my deep springform cake pan… hence the depth of my pizza!
2 Tablespoons of Sugar (Needs to be sugar, the yeast feeds on it and won’t proof without it).
4 Cups of Warm Water (110 degrees when you pour it in the bowl it will cool by the time you get everything else done)
4 Packages of Yeast or if you have the jar you can do 8 teaspoons of Yeast.
1 cup of First Press REALLY GOOD Extra Virgin olive oil.
1 Cup of Yellow Cornmeal
9 Cups of Flour (Up to 10)

CHEESE MIX:
4 Pounds of Grated Mozzarella
1 Pound of Provolone
1 Pound of Romano, Parmigiano, Asiago mix
Mix the cheese mix in a big bowl so it is blended well.

SAUCE:
4 28 oz Cans of Plum Tomatoes, Drain them and then put them through your blender for about 10 - 15 seconds you want them to be crushed up and chunky, but not liquid.
5 Teaspoons of FRESH Chopped up Basil
5 Teaspoons of FRESH Chopped Oregano
2 Tablespoons of Sugar (Or Splenda, I use Splenda)
10 Cloves of FRESH Garlic Peeled and Crushed with a Garlic Press
Salt and Pepper to taste
1/2 cup of Parmigiano Cheese Grated

TOPPINGS:
Portobello Mushrooms, sliced thin
Black Olives, sliced thin
White Onion, sliced thin
Green Bell Pepper, sliced thin
Prosciutto, chopped
Forest Ham, chopped

Prepare the Crust:
Proofing the yeast is an important part of this process. Make sure you do it right, you want your bowl of water to be about 95 - 100 degrees. Mix in the 2 tablespoons of sugar and stir it with a wisk. Once you disolve the sugar in the water, put the yeast in and make sure it all gets wet. (Yeast tends to float on the top and some of it won’t proof if you don’t wet it). Now walk away from it for about 10 minutes. It should be in a big bowl because this stuff is going to FOAM up and it will spill over if you don’t have a big enough bowl - you have been warned.

In your mixer mix the olive oil, the cornmeal and 5 cups of flour. Mix it up for about 1 minute and add the yeast slowly while it is mixing up. Slowly add the rest of the flour and let the mixer mix on about 1/3 speed for 5 minutes. The dough should not be sticky or wet, it should feel like really soft smooth elastic. Coat a plastic bowl with a little olive oil and put the dough into the bowl (Big bowl). Cover the top of it with a damp towel and let it rise until it is double the size.

Prep the Pans:
Prep your pizza pans, spread a little olive oil on the surface and sides and sprinkle yellow cornmeal on the bottom of it. This will prevent the pizza from sticking to the pan. Alternately (and I do it this way quite a bit) you can take REAL butter and really give it a good coating all away around and in the pan. Layer it on very thick. It gives the crust an amazing flavor. Sprinkle with yellow cornmeal the same way you would if you used olive oil.

Make Sauce:
Combine the ingredients together and make sure it has good time to sit and steep in the acids from the tomatoes. This will bring out the flavors of the seasonings.

Put it Together:
Once your dough has doubled again take it out and divide it into two sections with a knife. Roll it out onto your deep dish pizza pans (last chance to go out and buy pizza pans if you are using a baking dish you will not get the consistancy you need and you will not be happy). When you are laying the dough onto the pan push the dough to the edge. You can then turn the pan slowly while you pull the dough up the sides.

Add your toppings to the dough, then put half of your cheese mix on one pizza, half on the other. Use it all!

Pour your sauce on top until it reaches the edge of the dough (which should be all the way up the side of the pan), spread it out evenly and sprinkle with Parmigiano.

Preheat your oven and bake for 25 minutes on 350 degrees. After 25 minutes crank the oven up to 475 and bake for another 10 - 15 minutes. You want to watch the pizza and take it out when the top is light golden brownish and the crust is a light golden brown.

IMPORTANT: Let this pizza cool for 20 minutes, if you do not it will be all over the place. Once it cools for 20 minutes it will be just the right temp and will come out of the pan the right way. Cut and serve. This recipe should feed a family of 7 with maybe a slice left over.