There is a never-ending debate about what the best pizza is, Neapolitan, New York, or Chicago style. Whatever you’re standpoint is, Chicago deep-dish pizza is an awesome cheesy, saucy dish that everyone should try at least once!
What is Chicago Pizza?
Chicago pizza, or Chicago deep-dish pizza, is a pizza variation that originates from Chicago and was invented in the 1940s. Compared to Italian pizza the Chicago pizza has a tall edge and is baked in a metal pan rather than right on the floor of a wood-fired oven. Another thing that differentiates the Chicago pizza is the order of toppings. Traditionally, it’s served with cheese in the bottom, then meat, or other typical ‘pizza toppings’, and finishing off with thick tomato sauce on the top.
The crust has a more pie or biscuit-like consistency, compared to the crust you usually find in pizza. The reason for this is that the crust needs to be able to handle all the moisture from the topping and stay crispy. This would be really hard with regular pizza dough. To achieve this constancy, more fat is used, typically a combination of oil and butter in addition to cornmeal.
How to Make Chicago Pizza at Home
The recipe will make a 30-35 cm (12-14 inches) pizza. Just a warning before we get started, for those of you out there who are not familiar with Chicago pizza, this pizza is going to be very filling compared to typical thin-crust pizzas. This pizza should easily serve 4-5 people.
Chicago Pizza Dough
Ingredients
- 250 g type 00 flour
- 50 g cornmeal
- 120 ml warm water
- 3.5 g dried instant yeast
- 6 salt
- 30 g vegetable oil
- 60 g melted unsalted butter
Instructions
Add the water and salt to a mixing bowl and stir until dissolved. Then gradually add 10-20% of the flour while incorporating it. Then add the yeast and the cornmeal. Cornmeal can be replaced by an additional 50 g of flour. Then add the oil, and melted butter. Make sure the butter is not too hot, as this can kill the yeast. Then continue mixing while adding the remaining flour.
When the dough is formed, knead it for around 5 minutes in a stand mixer or 10 minutes by hand. You should now have a firm, slightly sticky dough. Place it in a clean bowl covered in plastic wrap, or in an air-tight container, and let it rest for 2-3 hours until it is doubled in size.
Chicago Pizza Sauce
While the pizza is rising, let’s make the pizza sauce! Chicago deep-dish pizza sauce is a lovely, thick tomato sauce. Often uncooked, made from crushed tomatoes. I have also heard it referred to as an ‘uncooked marinara sauce’. But I like to simmer my sauce for a long time to get a really nice, thick sauce.
Ingredients
- 800 g (28 oz) of crushed tomatoes
- One small onion
- ½ teaspoon of salt
- ½ teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper
- ½ teaspoon of sugar
- ½ teaspoon of cayenne pepper
- 1 teaspoon of oregano
- 1 tablespoon of basil
- 1 tablespoon of unsalted butter
- 2 cloves of garlic
Instructions
In a saucepan melt the butter and fry the onion over medium heat until translucent, then add the garlic, sugar, salt, pepper, and cayenne. Cook for 1-2 minutes and add the tomatoes, basil, and oregano, and let it simmer over medium heat for around 30 minutes. You want to reduce the sauce to around half its volume.
Toppings
Chicago pizza typically has cheese and tomato sauce, but Italian sausage or pepperoni is also a pretty common ingredient. You usually find a thick layer of cheese, most commonly mozzarella, but you can play around with other types of cheese as well. The most important thing is that you start with a low-moisture cheese in the bottom to avoid making your crust soggy.
Chicago Pizza Pan
Before starting to put our pizza together, let’s talk about pans for a moment. The two best options for baking your pizza are a cast-iron pan, or a Chicago pizza pan.
Cast-Iron Skillet
Cast-iron skillets are great because the thick iron edge conducts heat well, which helps crisp up our pizza crust. However, most cast iron pans, come with a rounded or angled edge, not a straight, tall edge. Another thing to keep in mind when comes to cast-iron skillet is to make sure that the handle is made of an oven-safe material.
Deep-Dish Pizza Pan
I recommend a dedicated Chicago deep-dish pizza pan. The reason is that they have the perfect shape, often come with a non-stick layer that makes it really easy to get the pizza out, and they have a taller edge, perfect for Chicago pizza. A great option is the American Metalcraft Aluminum Straight-Side 12 In Pizza Pan. This is a steady aluminum pan that is 30 cm (12 inches) in diameter, and 5 cm (2 inches) in depth, making it the perfect size for this recipe. It doesn’t conduct heat as well as a cast-iron skillet, but the pizza crust has turned out perfect every time I’ve used it!
Assembling
One of the unique things about Chicago pizza is the order of the toppings. From the bottom up, we start with cheese, and any meat, and finish up with sauce on top.
Shaping The Pizza
Start by pressing out your dough to a round, even disk using your hands. The dough should be pliable and easy to work with. Then oil your pan, and sprinkle it lightly with cornmeal to avoid the pizza from sticking. Then place the dough in the pan, and make any additional shaping required to make it fit. The dough should also stretch up, along the edge of the pan.
The Filling
As mentioned above, the cheese will work as a barrier between the crust, the sauce, and other toppings to prevent too much liquid from reaching the crust. This will make more of the liquids vaporize and leave you with a nice, crispy crust.
Next up is the pizza toppings, Italian sausage, pepperoni, vegetables, or whatever you’d like in your pizza. As for the cheese, try to avoid using too watery or fatty meat products, as this will make your crust soggier.
On top goes the thick tomato sauce. The reason the sauce goes on the top of the pizza is to avoid burning any toppings. A pizza that is this thick need a long time in the oven. The toppings and the cheese would trap the sauce, and finish baking much faster than the sauce. By putting the sauce on top, the liquids from the sauce are allowed to vaporize, at the same time as the toppings are protected from burning.
Baking
I recommend baking and baking the pizza on a
Because the Chicago pizza has a thick crust, and lots of toppings it takes some time to make the dough. We don’t want to burn our toppings, therefore you should not bake it at too hot a temperature. The hot steel helps bake the pizza faster from underneath.
Serving
When the pizza is done, take out the oven, and leave it for a few minutes to let it cool down and set a bit. You can now take it out of the pizza pan using a spatula, or cut it into slices in your pan. If you’re using a non-stick pizza pan, you may want to avoid scratching it with a metal spatula or a knife.
Related
- Is Your Pizza Dough Too Dry? Here is How to fix it! - June 10, 2024
- The Ultimate Guide to the Pizza Dough Windowpane Test - June 8, 2024
- The Ultimate Guide to Autolyse Pizza Dough - June 7, 2024