Being born and raised in Chicago, I’ve become accustomed to deep dish pizza. Then I moved up north and couldn’t find anything that remotely resembled the deep dish pizza I craved. While watching “The Kitchen” on television, one of my favorite chefs, Jeff Mauro, made a classic, Chicago style pizza. A few days later, I decided to give his recipe a whirl. I tweaked it just a dab, as I often do, and it was a big hit! After making this a few times, I discovered that the dough was easier to work with if you refrigerate it for a few hours after all the rising has been done. Either way, it works out. Be sure to add whatever items your family prefers, such as pepperoni, anchovies,olives or whatever. You can make a Panzerotti with the left over dough or make two 8 inch pizzas instead of 1 large one.Thanks once again to Jeff Mauro for the basic recipe.

Chicago Style Deep Dish Pizza

Recipe by Diane BeckerCourse: Uncategorized

Servings

servings

Ingredients

1 teaspoon sugar
1 packet active dry yeast (2 ¼ teaspoons)
11 ounces room temperature (about 80 degrees) water
18 ounces all purpose flour (approx. 3 ½-4 cups)
2 teaspoons fine sea salt
1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar
½ cup plus 3 Tablespoons corn oil, plus additional to oil the bowl
1 Tablespoon melted, unsalted butter
12 ounces sliced part skim mozzarella cheese
1 pound bulk Italian sausage
1/4 cup Reggiano Parmesano cheese, grated
1 teaspoon finely minced garlic
28 ounce can whole San Marzano tomatoes, crushed by hand and drained
Sprinkle of dried oregano
Sprinkle of dried basil

Directions

Mix sugar, yeast and water in a bowl and let rest (to bloom) for 15 minutes.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the flour, salt & cream of tartar.
Once the yeast has bloomed, add it to the flour mixture along with the corn oil.
Gently combine with a rubber spatula until a rough ball is formed.
Knead on low speed with the dough hook for 90 seconds.
Transfer the dough ball to a lightly oiled bowl, cover and place in a warm spot to rise until doubled in size, about 6 hours.
When doubled, punch down and let rest for 15 minutes.
Position the oven rack in the middle slot and preheat to 450 degrees.
Coat the bottom and sides of a 12” deep dish pan with the melted butter.
10. Using your hands, spread out about ¾ of the dough across the bottom and up the sides of the pan.
11. Cover the entire bottom with mozzarella (all the way up to the edges).
12. Cover with a thin, even layer of raw sausage.
13. Sprinkle on the minced garlic.
14. Top with the crushed tomatoes, a sprinkle of oregano and a sprinkle of basil.
15. Sprinkle the top evenly with the grated Reggiano Parmesano cheese.
16. Bake in the preheated oven, rotating halfway through, until golden around the edges, about 25 minutes.
17. Remove from oven and allow to rest for 5 minutes before slicing.