Chicago Deep Dish Pizza

About This Recipe

Chicago deep dish pizza inverts the typical pizza order -- cheese goes directly on the buttery, laminated crust, followed by toppings like sausage, then a chunky, uncooked tomato sauce is spooned over the top, all baked in a deep, well-oiled pan until the crust turns golden and slightly fried at the edges. It's less a pizza in the traditional thin-crust sense and more a savory, cheese-filled pie, requiring a fork and knife to eat properly. The technique that defines deep dish is the crust and the assembly order: the dough is enriched with butter or oil (sometimes cornmeal too) for a slightly flaky, almost pastry-like texture, pressed up the sides of a deep, well-greased pan to form a proper crust that can hold a substantial amount of filling. Cheese goes on first to prevent the crust from getting soggy from the sauce, then meat and vegetables, with the chunky tomato sauce spooned on top last and left uncooked before baking, since it will cook through in the oven. Baked low and slow to ensure the thick crust cooks through without burning while the fillings meld, Chicago deep dish is a genuine regional institution, a dish visitors specifically seek out when in the city.

Ingredients

Serves 6

• 3 cupsall-purpose flour
• 0.5 cupcornmeal
• 1 tspsalt
• 2.25 tspinstant yeast
• 0.33 cupolive oil
• 3 tbspbutter(melted)
• 1 cupwarm water
• 400 gItalian sausage(casing removed)
• 500 glow-moisture mozzarella(sliced)
• 800 gcrushed tomatoes
• 3 clovesgarlic(minced)
• 1 tspdried oregano
• 0.5 tspsalt(for sauce)
• 0.25 cupgrated parmesan

Instructions

1. 1

   Make the dough

   Mix flour, cornmeal, salt, and yeast. Add olive oil, butter, and warm water, kneading until smooth. Rest covered 1 hour until doubled.

2. 2

   Cook the sausage

   Brown Italian sausage in a pan, breaking it into crumbles, about 8 minutes. Drain and set aside.

3. 3

   Make the sauce

   Combine crushed tomatoes, garlic, oregano, and salt in a bowl (no cooking needed, as it bakes in the oven).

4. 4

   Press the dough

   Preheat oven to 220C/425F. Press dough into a well-greased deep dish pan or cast-iron skillet, pushing it up the sides.

5. 5

   Layer

   Place mozzarella slices over the dough, followed by cooked sausage, then spoon the uncooked tomato sauce evenly over the top.

6. 6

   Bake

   Sprinkle with parmesan and bake 30-35 minutes until the crust is deeply golden and the sauce is bubbling.

7. 7

   Rest and serve

   Let rest 10 minutes before slicing, as deep dish holds a lot of hot filling.

Variations

• •

  Make it vegetarian by omitting the sausage and adding sauteed mushrooms and spinach.

• •

  Add pepperoni alongside or instead of sausage for a different classic combination.

• •

  Use a mix of mozzarella and provolone for a more complex cheese flavor.

Storage

Refrigerate up to 4 days in an airtight container. Reheat slices in a 180C/350F oven for 15-20 minutes until heated through and the crust re-crisps; microwaving makes the crust soggy.

Frequently Asked Questions